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Vintage farm barn stands straight as day it was built

WILLIAMS - A 95-year-old barn near this northeast Hamilton County community is in tip-top shape today, thanks in part to the way it was constructed nearly a century ago.

The barn, owned by Kenneth Sweedler, is mortise and tenon construction and spans 40 by 94 feet and is 50 feet tall to the peak. It stands tall as a landmark for the Sweedler family farm.

"It's as straight as it was the day it was built," said Sweedler.

Sweedler's grandfather, Edward Sweedler, moved to the farm from Illinois in 1903 when he bought 160 acres.

The farm already had a house and barn. The barn was replaced in 1914 and the house in 1932.

"There was another old barn on the same site that was moved and eventually demolished," Sweedler said.

The featured barn was built with eight paddocks for horses and 12 stalls for cattle.

Being built during World War I, however, is a puzzling question for Sweedler.

"With lumber and building material being scarce, how they got it built I've questioned," he said.

The construction crew came from Illinois and most likely stayed at the farm while the barn was being built, Sweedler said.

Sweedler still has the letter that his grandfather sent to the company with accompanying plans and instructions of the barn's design.

Sweedler said his grandfather requested "shingles to be best grade" and the "parts in front of the horse stalls, use 3-by-8-inch or 4-by-8-inch (lumber) whichever you see fit" as just a few of the barn's features.

In later years, the structure was converted to house pigs on the north end. It's currently being used for storage. Sweedler thinks his barn was last used for livestock in the mid-1970s.

Over the years, the barn has received the usual maintenance painting, two sets of wood shingles and most currently a steel roof and new windows.

Fortunately, the foundation remains in good shape.

The barn features a unique hay system, Sweedler said, where it is reversible, allowing hay to be unloaded either from the north or south end.

Sweedler said he recalls many years of mowing and then loading the hay in the mow. After threshing oats, Sweedler said they backed the machine to the barn and blew straw into the structure making it handy to use as bedding.

Although an adjacent corn crib is what held picked corn, the barn was still an integral part of that job.

"When we finished picking corn by hand, we come in after dark, unharness, groom and feed the horses. The wire above the windows is where we would hang a lantern for light and that's how we could see to put the corn into the crib," said Sweedler.

Like most farms the barn was the centerpiece of the farm and many hours were spent working there.

"I spent lots of time in the barn," said Sweedler.

Aside from symbolizing the hard work required for farming, barns still have special meaning, especially to Sweedler.

"It's an heirloom and for 95 years old, it's still in relatively good condition," he said.

Contact Kriss Nelson by e-mail at jknelson@frontiernet.net.