SHARROCK NIBLO BARN

Preservation Dallas awarded the Sharrock Niblo Barn a Preservation Achievement Award in 2020. The Sharrock/Niblo park site dates to 1846 when the 320 acre tract was settled by Everard Sharrock Jr. as the Sharrock Farmstead, part of the Peter’s Colony land grant in Dallas County. Sharrock Jr. built a single-pen log cabin, log barn, well and root cellar on the land. In 1853 the family moved west and the farmstead had multiple owners until 2006 when it was donated to the City of Dallas’ Park and Recreation Department with 33.74 acres. The original structures remain on the site, among the oldest buildings in Dallas County.

McCoy Collaborative and team completed HABS documentation in 2008, a Historic Structures Report in 2009, restored the log cabin in 2017, a master plan for the historic site and a 33 acre park in 2018, and the stabilization of the log barn in 2019.  The preservation of the log barn was undertaken in-situ, with minimal material replacement or changes. In order to conserve as much historic material as possible and with an intention to present the log barn in its somewhat deformed and very obvious historic state, a preservation treatment approach was pursued. This approach was also consistent with the very limited historic documentation available on the appearance of the log barn. The preservation treatment meant that while taking action to address deterioration, site drainage problems, and structural failures to help to ensure the long-term viability of the structure, its appearance remains essentially as-is, retaining the signs of age that give it its historic character.

A video by Mark Birnbaum, commissioned by Phoenix 1 Restoration, illustrates the preservation process, available at this link: http://vimeo.com/372419334.

To attend the awards event visit https://www.preservationdallas.org/events.