ELLSWORTH, Maine — The last time the Big Chicken Barn was home to chickens — of the live, clucking variety, at least — man hadn’t yet landed on the moon and Lyndon Johnson was president.
But the building’s agricultural heritage is proudly displayed in its name and on a sign thousands of tourists see as they whizz by on U.S. Route 1 during the busy summer season. Lots of them stop to wander the stalls filled with books, vintage clothes, copper bed warmers, knick-knacks, antiques and more. In fact, it seems as though chickens are among the few items not for sale in the massive, wood-shingled structure, which has more than 21,000 feet of floor space in its three full stories.
With its old-fashioned feel and all-wood aesthetic, the barn is the antithesis of a shiny, modern store. Opening the doors, you are struck by the size of it — the building is as long as a football field — as well as the vast treasure trove of books and collectibles tucked under its creaky rafters. Natural light filters in through the small windows that punctuate its length, and the atmosphere these days seems more grandma’s attic than agribusiness.
The barn was built in the mid-1950s and was used to raise chicks until they were 3 months old, at which point they would be shipped away from Ellsworth. More than 50,000 chicks could fit in the barn at a time, and they needed warmth. Annegret Cukierski, who has owned the barn for 29 years, said the whole 300-foot-long building was heated to 92 degrees Fahrenheit with an oil furnace during that time.
By the mid-1960s, the chickens were gone. For years, it was empty, according to Terri Cormier, the president of the Ellsworth Historical Society, and might have become yet another of Maine’s barns that fought time and lost. Hancock County is full of such once-functional spaces that have rotted and collapsed.
“Barns are lost every day now,” Cormier said.
But that wasn’t the fate of the Big Chicken Barn, which differed from many of Maine’s large chicken barns because it was built of wood and not of metal. A previous owner had the Ellsworth structure steam-cleaned to remove the unmistakable ammonia smell of chickens. By the mid-1980s, the old barn found new life as a used book store.
Cukierski’s family has made a few important changes over the years. While the outside still looks much as it did during the mid-20th century chicken heyday, the interior has been renovated to make it more functional. Three furnaces diminish the drafts of bitter Maine winters, and bathrooms have been added. Still, it retains its essential barn feel.
“It’s a fantastic building,” Cukierski said.
The Big Chicken Barn is located at 1768 Bucksport Road, Ellsworth and is open year-round. For more information, call 667-7308.