Chipman Potato House

Chipman Potato House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city:	Laurel, Delaware
Coordinates:	38°33′37″N 75°32′14″W / 38.56028°N 75.53722°W / 38.56028; -75.53722Coordinates: 38°33′37″N 75°32′14″W / 38.56028°N 75.53722°W / 38.56028; -75.53722
Architect:	Chipman,Ernest; Chipman,Joseph
Architectural style:	Potato house
Governing body:	Private
MPS:	Sweet Potato Houses of Sussex County MPS
NRHP Reference#:	90001691
Added to NRHP:	November 15, 1990[1]

The Chipman Potato House is located near Laurel, Delaware, one of the last surviving examples of its building type. The southern part of Delaware saw a sweet potato boom from 1900 until blight struck in the 1940s. In order to store the crops, potato houses were built. The Chipman House was built in 1913 by Joseph and Ernest Chipman on their property with the assistance of Alva Hudson. The 2½ story balloon-framed house is furnished with sparse, shuttered windows and slatted floors, allowing adjustment of air circulation. Two stoves provided heat during the winter, one of which survives.^[2][3]

The Chipman potato house has been modified for tractor access. Windows were once glazed beneath the shutters, a very unusual feature in a potato house. The internal structure uses samson posts, a kind of capped column that is normally employed in mill construction to bear heavy loads, leading to speculation that the feature echos construction in the adjacent, now destroyed Chipman's Mill. The Chipman house is also unusual in plan, divided into four quadrants with 2.5-foot (0.76 m) walkways between. Each quadrant was divided into at least three bins. The attic is divided in two with a center aisle, for a total of 50 bins, typically 9 feet (2.7 m) by 3 feet (0.91 m).^[3]

The Chipman Potato House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Maynard, W. Barksdale (2008). "Western Sussex County". Buildings of Delaware. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 296–297. ISBN 978-0-8139-2702-2. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Quinn, Judith (December 23, 1987). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Chipman Potato House". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/90001691.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-14.