Sherrick House at Antietam Interior Photographs/Tour

LittleMac

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Mar 20, 2019
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Wisconsin
Hello, all! Here's a post I've been wanting to make for some time-- as a thank-you for helping out during Park Day, the rangers at Antietam National Park allowed volunteers to tour the Sherrick House, a place not typically open to the public. I took photographs of the interior, and will share them below.

Here's the exterior of the house/farm from a stereoview taken by Alexander Gardner:
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And here's the exterior of the house today (side view-- I couldn't get a picture from the front because of the road) :
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And now, for the interior! Here's a floor plan for the Sherrick House, which I'll be referencing.

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(Credit to ErnieMac from the The Houses and Farms of Antietam/Sharpsburg thread for the image!)

Here is the main hallway in the house (we entered from the side):

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The floor is covered by a protective tarp detailed in the fake marble pattern the Park Service believes would have been present in the house. The fake marbling is original on the stairs.

Here is another perspective of the hallway, showing the stairwell:
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This room is labelled as a first floor bedroom, and the tour guide said that it would've been Mr. Sherrick's office.
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Does anybody know what the use for all the pegs on the wall would be?

The following picture is of the parlor. Again, the fake marble detailing is original.
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Next up is the dining room!

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The doors downstairs have a pattern painted on them to make them appear as though they are made of wood more valuable than they really are:

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Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the room adjoining the dining room. It has a staircase leading both to the nursery and to the winter kitchen below the house. Here's the root cellar off of the winter kitchen, in which you can see the foundation of the house:
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And here's the pantry leading off of the winter kitchen:
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A quick jaunt outside will take you to the summer kitchen, which has a room upstairs that was roped off:

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The exterior of the house also has a separate entrance into a spring house, which actually lies below the house itself. From what I gathered from the tour guide, the Sherrick House is one of the few in the area that boasts this unusual feature. It helps keep the house cool in summer, but has made some preservation more difficult because of the resulting moisture in the air.

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The house's exterior also contains the faded remains of stenciling on the brickwork, intended to make the bricks appear more even:
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Back inside, we've now reached the second floor of the house. This is the first bedroom immediately on the right after ascending the stairs:
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(Continued below)
 
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This is the room adjacent to the one shown above.

Going back into the hallway will show you a glimpse of the stairs leading up to the attic, which was closed to us:
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Across from the stairwell, a small room sits at the center of the hall. It may have been used as a servants' quarters:
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The final main bedroom was probably the master bedroom, as it connects to the nursery:
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And the nursery itself:
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The stairs lead into the servant room downstairs. There is also a dumbwaiter in the nursery.
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Finally, here are the buildings outside:
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Not quite sure what this one would've been used for. Feeding, perhaps?

Here are the foundations of the old barn:
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Here's a sliver of the Otto Farm, visible from the house, from which Gardner likely took his stereoview:
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Thank you for reading! I hope this has been interesting for you! The Sherrick House really is a lovely place.
 
Thanks so much for these pics. I've passed this house while touring a hundred times and wished I could tour inside. Are the wooden floors original to the house?
No problem! It was a fascinating experience, and I'm happy to be in a position to share about it. I believe that some of the floors may have been replaced due to the moisture from the cold cellar, but I'm afraid that I don't know for certain.
 
The pegs may have been for hanging storage. If this was indeed his bedroom/office I could imagine them festooned with outdoor clothing and hats; riding equipment such as bridles, quirts, etc; powder flask, shot pouch and game bag; and other small items used around the farm. In Shaker houses of this period such pegs were also used to hang ladder-back chairs to keep the floor cleared for cleaning. Bedroom closets were not yet common, so clothing and other items had to be kept in bureaus or chests, or hung on the wall.
 
The pegs may have been for hanging storage. If this was indeed his bedroom/office I could imagine them festooned with outdoor clothing and hats; riding equipment such as bridles, quirts, etc; powder flask, shot pouch and game bag; and other small items used around the farm. In Shaker houses of this period such pegs were also used to hang ladder-back chairs to keep the floor cleared for cleaning. Bedroom closets were not yet common, so clothing and other items had to be kept in bureaus or chests, or hung on the wall.
Thank you! I’ve been wondering about those pegs for a while. Seems like they served many purposes, and, from what I was given to understand, it’s fairly uncommon to find them in that condition. What a neat feature!
 
Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures of the Sherrick House at Antietam battlefield. I have visited this house many times while at Antietam. David.
 
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