In late April, the Massabesic Center’s Broad Barn received our “NH Barn Trail” sign, delivered by John Porter. Porter is a NH barn enthusiast, NH Humanities to Go speaker (The History of Agriculture as Told by Barns), UNH Cooperative Extension Professor/Specialist, Emeritus, and co-author of “Preserving Old Barns.” The NH Barn Trail is a curated, statewide initiative highlighting historic New Hampshire barns that are open to the public, featuring farms, museums, and agricultural sites. Managed by UNH Extension, the trail provides educational opportunities to explore the state’s agricultural history, architecture, and rural landscapes. An overview and map can be found on UNH Extension’s website.
In the 1800’s, the barn at what is now the Massabesic Center operated as part of the Brown Farm, before being sold to the Parker family around the turn of the 20th century. Livestock, produce, and timber were the Parker Farm’s main commodities, along with ice harvested from Lake Massabesic. Charlotte Parker Milne was the last Parker to operate the farm and ran it until the 1970’s. In 1996, New Hampshire Audubon purchased the farm to create a wildlife education center hub for the Manchester region and named the Broad Barn in honor of Ed Broad who helped bring the vision of the Massabesic Center to life. Of note, the Broad Barn is now home to maternity colony of Big Brown Bats, that have been monitored since 2014. Our bat colony’s numbers fluctuate from 50 to 140 individuals depending on the year and protecting them is the Broad Barn’s primary function.
Here at NH Audubon’s Massabesic Center you can visit daily from dawn to dusk to view this beautiful New England-style barn, with typical large barn doors at both ends. It has a stone foundation and transom windows. While interior access to the Broad Barn is generally restricted to the public, every April, a section of the Barn’s interior that once housed cattle is open for visiting during our Build-a-Birdhouse event. The Massabesic Center’s main building, which houses our Nature Lab, Nature Shop, rotating art exhibits, and bathrooms, is open Weds-Sat, from 11am-5pm.