Column: Shorelines

Courtesy of Sandee Burt

One of the tobacco barns lake resident Sandee Burt has photographed for her calendar; most of the barns she featured are located in Franklin and Pittsylvania counties.

Lake resident Sandee Burt and Sonja Ingram of Preservation Virginia may not know each other, but both women are doing what they can to help preserve tobacco barns throughout this region of Virginia.

It's through her digital photographs that Burt has been preserving the once-useful and now historic barns. In the past three years, Burt has collected more than three dozen photographs.

Last year, she decided to publish the photos in a calendar. It was only a matter of days before Burt sold out of the 100 calendars she had printed.

This year, Burt put together another calendar and had 200 printed. She's selling them for $15 each at The General Store on Scruggs Road near Westlake Corner, Boone's Country Store on Virginia 116 and by word-of-mouth.

Most of the barns Burt has photographed are in Franklin and Pittsylvania counties.

"I just think that the barns are so interesting," said Burt, who, with husband Dick, moved to the lake five years ago from upstate New York. "They're built in all different ways, yet they all serve the same purpose."

Barn owners have contacted her and invited her to photograph their barns. Burt, office manager at the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, has yet to make it to all the places on her expanding list, but plans to do so soon.

"This is history; it's becoming scarce and it's something that should be preserved," said Burt in an interview with Laker Weekly in December 2008. "This area was so big in tobacco production back in its day and now you see very little of it."

Ingram is helping to preserve these structures through her work as a field representative for the nonprofit Preservation Virginia. Since 1889, Preservation Virginia has worked to preserve historic places across the Commonwealth.

"We listed tobacco barns on our endangered list last year," wrote Ingram in an e-mail. "We made it specific to Pittsylvania County, but it really encompasses all counties.

"After the barns were listed, I received a lot of interest, and since then, we have been working on putting together a 'barns summit' of sorts that will, hopefully, get a lot of interested people together to work toward preserving barns in Virginia."

Preservation Virginia is working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation on its BARN AGAIN! program, which helps barn owners find ways to protect and save historic barns across the country.

Ingram said Preservation Virginia wants to enlist the help of the National Trust for its barns summit.

While Ingram said there aren't any official barn-preservation programs, there are ways barn owners can "help" preserve their structures, including having them listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Virginia Landmarks Register.

"I say 'help' [in quotes] because having them listed does not necessarily mean they are protected, but it does provide benefits such as qualifying for certain tax incentives and grants and providing a degree of protection from federal projects that may jeopardize the resource," said Ingram.

There are certain criteria that must be met to be included in the barn-preservation program. Structures must be at least 50 years old, look like they did in the past and be located in an area of historical significance.

"Preservation Virginia does not have a grant program, so we don't have money to give folks who need to stabilize or rehab barns, but I can point them in the right direction for grant money," said Ingram. "I can also provide technical support on proper rehab techniques."

For more information about Preservation Virginia, visit www.preservationvirginia.org. For information about the barn preservation program, contact Sonja Ingram at (804) 551-3249 or singram@preservationvirginia.org. To purchase a 2010 tobacco barn calendar, visit The General Store, Boone's Country Store, or contact Sandee Burt at 297-1884 or sburt@visitsmithmountainlake.com.