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The roof framing of the smokehouse was typically over-built with a Unlike barns and other agricultural buildings more suited to rural
sturdy king post in the center and rafters studded with wrought spikes settings, both smokehouses and dairies were common in both urban
or wooden pegs where the various cuts of pork could be hung to smoke and rural environments. Of the 89 original buildings at Colonial
and then for storage. When fully loaded, a smokehouse could provide Williamsburg, ten are smokehouses and three are dairies. The small lot
nearly a year’s worth of meat for a family. sizes were perfect for these compact outbuildings, and the pyramidal
roofs and decorative vents on dairies fit in with the domestic setting.
Dairies
And More to Come
Agricultural buildings in the era were built by hand by skilled crafts-
men from various trades trained in carpentry, timber-framing, masonry
trades, joinery, and blacksmithing. Like most buildings built in the
18th and 19th centuries in the South, many of the skilled hands under-
taking the construction were enslaved. In 18th century Williamsburg,
half of the population was Black, and the majority enslaved. On rural
plantations, enslaved women and children made the bricks that formed
the foundations that these buildings stood on. While in many cases we
don’t know the names of the craftsmen or their status, whether white,
free Black or enslaved, these buildings are their legacy. So not only do
these buildings teach us about the building and farming traditions of
the past, but they also help shine a light on the people that built, lived,
and worked in them.
The extensive research collected for Colonial Williamsburg’s
The Grissell Hay outbuilding complex is a rare urban survival of 18th century Agricultural Buildings Project continues to help scholars across the
outbuildings and constitutes three of Colonial Williamsburg’s 89 original buildings. nation better understand the colonial and early-American built
From left to right: privy, smokehouse, dairy. environment. Early agricultural buildings have invaluable stories to tell
photo by Wayne Reynolds for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2018.
– stories of their many uses and of the men, women, and children—
If cowhouses were the least architecturally impressive outbuilding in enslaved and free—who worked and, in some cases, lived in them. As
early America, then dairies might be the most impressive. Like smoke- we continue to build upon this research, we look forward to finding
houses, dairies were often square with pyramidal roofs. In the best new and more vibrant ways to share these stories.
dairies, louvered or vented window openings and coved and plastered
eaves that created a deep overhang allowed for cooling and air Colonial Williamsburg is the world’s largest living history museum. The
circulation. Inside, dairies were often sunken into the ground and fully over 300 acres in Williamsburg, Virginia feature iconic sites, working
plastered to further aid in the regulation of temperature. The plaster tradespeople, historic taverns, and two world-class art museums. Colonial
could also be limewashed regularly to create a more hygienic environ- Williamsburg is open 365 days a year. For mote information, visit
ment for the storage of butter, cream, and milk. www.colonialwilliamsburg.org.

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30 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles