Weathervane Wednesday ~ Three on one Barn!

Every Wednesday for more than two years Vincent and I have been posting photographs of weather vanes located in or near the Nutfield area (the former name for the land where Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire are now located). Most are historically interesting or just whimsical and fun weather vanes. If you know an interesting weather vane, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Today's weather vane was found just over the border in Vermont. Have fun guessing where you may have seen this weather vane.

Do you know the location of weather vane #139? Scroll down to see the answer....

Today's featured weather vanes are found at the Shelburne Museum on top of the gallery known as the "Horseshoe Barn".  This unique U-shaped barn was built in 1949, and modeled after a horseshoe shaped barn in Georgia, Vermont.  To construct this barn, timber and beams from a dozen other Vermont barns were used, and the foundations were built from the stone of two gristmills. The total length of this barn is 238 1/2 feet, and it is 32 feet wide.  Today it houses a collection of over 200 19th and early 20th century carriages, coaches, and sleighs on two levels.  An annex was built in 1957 to display a Contestoga wagon, stagecoaches and farm vehicles.

There are three weather vanes here on this barn.  The central weather vane is the figure of an Indian with the name WEBB on the bottom.  The Shelburne Museum was founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb.  The end gables have simpler, matching weather vanes with arrows.  The Indian weather vane is a copy of an older weather vane on display in the Stage Coach Inn Gallery, across the lane at the Shelburne Museum.  This valuable weather vane was made about 1860 - 1875 and has the acronym TOTE for "Totem of the Eagle". This was the symbol for the fratneral organization The Improved Order of the Red Men.  I previously blogged about this fraternal order HERE, which had its roots with the men who participated in the Boston Tea Party.  Obviously, Mrs. Webb was inspired by this weather vane in her collection and had a replica made to display on top of her unique barn gallery.

I probably should number this second antique weather vane as #140 in my series!  Wow, a post with four weather vanes....

click to enlarge, it's easier to read!

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

The Shelburne Museum - wwww.shelburnemuseum.org 

Silhouettes in the Sky: The Art of the Weathervane, by Jean M. Burks, The Shelburne Museum, 2006 [available at the main gift shop at the Shelburne Museum - this is the only book on their collection of weather vanes]

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Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo