Built in the mid-nineteenth century, the 5-bay, heavy timber Charles Fish Barn proudly supported three cupolas and stood as a local landmark. However, years of neglect left substantial structural damage. The owner, Mercer County, deemed the building not worth repairing and plans were made for demolition. The New Jersey Barn Company, having advocated for the barn’s restoration, agreed to take on the job of disassembly.
Some fifteen years passed before the Fish Barn found a new, higher purpose as the Visitor Center for Mercer County’s Howell Living History Farm. In keeping with its goal of preserving skills and practices that helped shape the County’s past, the farm invited the public to help raise the barn the traditional way. Even the pegs were fashioned by local school children.
