Barnyard Trail: Barnyard

The Barnyard has undergone many changes through centuries of use.

NPS/Sucena

As you enter the barnyard, take a moment to imagine the Estate as it was in full operation. This would have been a bustling site filled with cattle, crops, carriages, and people. All of the buildings that stood here were tended to by workers, from enslaved and indentured servants in the 18th and early 19th centuries, to immigrant and local labor in late 19th and 20th centuries.  

Charles H. Ross, who served as the estate’s caretaker from 1876 to 1913, described his life on the farm in a brief memoir. Through his recollections, we learn about staff employed by the Floyds in the home and throughout the site. His descriptions help us to understand the roles, skills, and personalities of his fellow workers. When he started at the Floyd Estate, Ross remembered that John Gelston Floyd, Sr. lived in the house on his own. In his old age, John, Sr. relied on the help of the Carmen family who lived in the rooms above the kitchen. He explained:

“There was a colored family in the kitchen. Elijah Carmen and Charity, his wife, and five children. Charity did the cooking. Elijah did the chores around the house and helped on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll Floyd came out here in the summer, and Charity cooked for them and used the old brick oven to bake goodies in.”