In the first installment of our new Preservation in Action Video Series, Eric Litchford, Preservation Projects Manager, takes you through the recent rehabilitation work completed on the 19th-century smokehouse at Bacon’s Castle. The smokehouse played an important role in ensuring everyone stayed well fed through the winter months and beyond. Preserving meat before commercial refrigeration could have been considered an art, and many homes of the time relied on a building, much like the one seen here, to help carry out this vital task. Every building tells a story, and every historic site needs significant, ongoing maintenance to keep it preserved for future generations.

Bacon’s Castle is the oldest brick dwelling in North America dating back to 1665, and Preservation Virginia has owned and operated the site as a museum for forty years. You can visit Bacon’s Castle Friday through Sunday, March through December. Purchase tickets online through our website, www.preservationvirginia.org.