In the nineteenth century, the smokehouse was an important farm outbuilding that cured and stored meat for the family before refrigeration. This rare brick smokehouse was built from red clay bricks formed and fired nearby on the property. It was an enclosed shelter where a fire could be kept smoldering for a few weeks to smoke and cure meat rather than cook it. After animals were slaughtered at the beginning of winter, cuts of fresh meat were packed in tubs of salt, sugar, and saltpeter for about six weeks, drawing out most of the water. The salted meat was then hung from the rafters in the windowless smokehouse, which had no flue. A cold fire of green wood, corncobs, or fruitwood was started, and the meat was smoked for 1 to 2 weeks. The process produced long-lasting, smoke-flavored meat that could be aged for two years before it was eaten.