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Boone Co. barn survived 2020 derecho By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY
BOONE
Farm News writer
MADRID — There’s usually a clear view of Morey and Rhonda Hill’s red barn from their home’s dining area, but everything changed on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. When a dark wall of clouds blew in from the west around 10:30 a.m., the couple knew there was trouble ahead. Violent winds pummeled the area for about 20 to 30 minutes, decimating the grove. As the derecho pounded Boone County east of Madrid, the storm ripped off the top of the windmill and blew out large sections of the barn, exposing part of the haymow. “The damage from ‘Hurricane Ioway’ was heartbreaking, but at least the barn was still standing,” said Rhonda Hill, who grew up on a farm near Manson. “If we didn’t have steel on the roof, the barn might not have survived.” At nearly a century old, this barn is a survivor. Built around 1929-1930 by Bob Torgeson, it was designed as a dairy barn, with stanchions on the east side. After the Hills moved to this Garden
-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Township farm in 1998, they wanted to upgrade the barn, which was painted white and had asphalt shingles. “Rhonda and I agreed a barn should be red,” said Hill, who grew up in Boone County between Perry and Rippey. The barn became a hub of activity, especially when the Hill’s daughters (Meghan and Dana) were in the Alleman Aces 4-H Club. “Through the years, that barn housed hogs, cattle, sheep and rabbits,” said Rhonda Hill, who served as the Alleman Acres’ club leader with Morey in years past. Sheep were inside the barn when the 2020 derecho hit. “They were on walkabout after the storm,” joked Morey Hill, who appreciated family and friends who showed up soon after the storm to help with cleanup. The Hills also worked with a contractor
RHONDA AND MOREY HILL stand in front of the barn on their farm east of Madrid. It was built around 19291930.
See BOONE, Page 23C Whether you are planning to farm more acres or want to increase your marketing flexibility, we use our expertise to design grain systems to meet your specific needs. From grain storage, dryers and bucket elevators to controls and support towers, we have the technology and equipment to grow with your operation and maximize your productivity and efficiency for decades to come.
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Storm Lake area barn showcases local history By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
STORM LAKE — When Tami Ebel and her husband, Jeff, were looking for an acreage in northwest Iowa, Tami had some non-negotiables. “I wanted an old farmhouse, and I wanted a barn. I wanted the acreage to look like a farm.” The couple looked at about 14 properties before they took a look at an acreage south of Storm Lake along U.S. Highway 71. It fit everything Tami wanted. “The barn didn’t have a lick of paint on it when we bought this place in 2006,” she said. “We started fixing it up right away.” It was quite a transformation for a barn that the previous owner had considered tearing down. The Ebels’ hard work didn’t go unnoticed. “Multiple people put notes in our mailbox saying, ‘Thank you for fixing up the barn,’” said Tami Ebel, who was grateful the barn had a steel roof when she and Jeff brought the property. The acreage even had an interesting tie to Tami Ebel’s family. “My great-uncle rented this place for a year a number of years ago while his place
-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
BUENA VISTA
TAMI EBEL stands in front of their barn on the acreage she owns with her husband, Jeff, south of Storm Lake. The couple chose their current acreage in part because it came with one of Tami’s requirements – a barn.
was being built by Sac City,” she said. The Ebel’s barn was built around 1920. The Lange family owned the property for more than 40 years before the Ebels purchased the acreage. The barn housed a variety of livestock through the years, including sheep. “For countless weekends we shoveled
FAR LEFT: Outside the barn, this vintage Case tractor is on display.
See BUENA VISTA, Page 23C
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Souders celebrate 50th wedding anniversary in barn By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
CALHOUN
LYTTON — A recent “House Beautiful” magazine that showcased the latest entertaining trend — party barns — praised these “extravagant” new structures’ ability to absorb a crowd, take a bit of wear and tear, and offer a fun, casual space where hosts don’t have to worry about formal entertaining. Randy and Cindy Souder are way ahead of the trend, thanks to their renovated Calhoun County barn in Garfield Township. The couple, along with their friends and family, celebrated the Souders’ 50th wedding anniversary during a barn party in June 2023. While the Souders are relatively new owners of this 96-year-old barn, their connection to this farm goes back to 1994. Back then, Randy Souder was interested in renting the farm, which the Schilling family had owned for years. “I started talking about cash rent with Warren Schilling, a bachelor who had farmed the land until 1980,” Randy Souder said. “Warren didn’t know me and didn’t seem interested in renting the land to me. He said he wanted $120 an acre for cash rent, even though the going rate was $80 an acre.” As the conversation continued, however, Warren was surprised to learn that Souder’s great-uncle was Clarence Carmean, who had farmed nearby. “When Warren learned my grandpa Jessie Pearl (J.P.) Carmean had fixed farm equipment for him, everything changed. Warren let me rent the farm for $60 an acre.” Warren and his older sister Emily continued to live on the farm, where their parents, Sherman and Anna Schilling, had built the barn in 1927 to house horses and dairy cows. After Emily and Warren passed away, the farm passed to the youngest Schilling sibling, Gladys (Schilling) Hickman. The Souders had a good working relationship with the Hickmans, who were willing to invest in the barn.
violent windstorm twisted the barn in the summer of 1970, said Randy Souder, who was named a beneficiary in the Schillings’ will. The Souders received the barn (along with 173 acres of farmland, a corn crib and the farmhouse) in 2019. It wasn’t long before the barn would undergo a big transformation, due in large part to the young couple who rented the farmhouse. “They asked if they could host their wedding reception in the barn,” Randy Souder said. The Souders agreed. They started removing clutter from the barn in the summer of 2021. They also worked with the engaged couple (Chris Larson and Kaylynn Kruckenberg) to pour new cement throughout the entire floor in early September 2021. Power washing the barn’s interior came next. “I thought, ‘Wow — this barn is gorgeous, especially the grain of the wood,’” Cindy Souder said. “The barn’s personality came through after everything was cleaned up.” The barn provided a unique venue for the Larsons’ wedding reception in October 2021. It also offered a rustic setting for the Souders’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 2023. This fall, Kaylynn Larson hosted a baby shower in the barn in honor of the upcoming birth of her nephew. Another party is scheduled for the summer of 2024, when Randy Souder (a 1969 graduate of Lake City High School) and Cindy will host his 55th high school class reunion at the barn. The Souders enjoy using their barn for these gatherings. “There aren’t enough barns left in the area anymore,” Randy Souder said. “Barns are a neat part of local history.”
-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
ABOVE: The Souders, who have owned this barn since 2019, cleaned up the inside of their barn in 2021 and poured a new cement floor so it could be used for a young couple’s wedding reception. -Submitted photo
LEFT: Randy and Cindy Souder are all smiles as they celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary inside their Calhoun County barn.
“Gladys and her husband, Al, put a new roof and steel siding on the barn around 2005,” Randy Souder said. The Hickmans valued the barn, which was built by Oscar Nordine, a local carpenter who constructed many farm buildings in the area. The barn, which measures approximately 40 feet by 58 feet, originally included two oat bins on the north and a full haymow. Half of the barn floor was concrete, while the other half was dirt. Harry Nordine (Oscar Nordine’s nephew) helped straighten the structure after a
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Templeton family transforms barn into home By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
TEMPLETON — There’s nothing like an old farmhouse with little or no insulation to make a homeowner think it’s time to look at new options. Just ask Ryan and Heidi Klocke, who live southeast of Templeton. “One evening when the wind was really howling, I said, ‘Let’s go out to the barn,’” said Ryan Klocke, 38. “You could hardly hear the wind in there.” While the barn had sheltered cattle and hogs in years past, it had been adapted to house Klocke Custom Cabinets, which Ryan used to run with his younger brother, Jason. (Around 201516, the business relocated to downtown Templeton.) The Klockes started thinking their Eden Township barn might make a good home for their family, which includes three young sons. “The barn was already 50% to 60% of the way there, since it had spray-foam insulation and new electric and septic, plus it had been re-tinned,” Ryan Klocke said. The Klocke’s oldest son, Blake, liked the idea of turning the barn into a house. “My bedroom in the old house shook when the wind was really strong,” he said. Both the farmhouse and the barn were nearly 100 years old. The small house (which had a 720-square-foot main floor) was built in 1928, and the barn was built around this time, too, said Ryan Klocke, who grew up half a mile to the east of this farm. The Langel family had owned the place for decades before Evelyn
CARROLL Langel sold the property to Ryan Klocke in 2006. “The house had served its purpose, but the roof was shot, and the basement had water problems,” said Ryan Klocke, who raises hogs and owns Nexgen Ag Supply in downtown Templeton with Heidi. The company supplies hog barn equipment and other supplies for farmers across the Midwest. “When you have a building with good bones, you want to make the most of it,” added Heidi Klocke, 34, who noted that nothing creaks or shakes in the well-built barn. After the Klockes decided to move into their barn, there were a lot of late nights and weekends filled with cleaning and remodeling. Since the Klockes will likely build a new house in the future, they didn’t design their barn-house to incorporate every little detail. “We knew we did want a large kitchen island, though, and an open concept floor plan,” Heidi Klocke said. The couple converted the hayloft into spaces for a kitchen, living space, bedrooms (including a loft area for the boys), and a full bathroom. The lower level includes a utility area and additional space that can be converted into more living space or a bedroom. The Klockes’ barn takes the concept of an open floor plan with vaulted ceilings to a whole new level. The space measures 20
See CARROLL, Page 66C
-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
RYAN AND HEIDI KLOCKE are shown here outside their Templeton-area barn, which they transformed into a home for their family, which includes sons Blake, 9; Mack, 7; and Hank, 4.
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One hundred years and still on the job By CLAYTON RYE
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G
ERRO ORDO PLYMOUTH — The Hodson– Dirksen Dairy Farm is located on the Jerry Hodson served in the Army and west edge of Plymouth, and dairying has been a part of the farm since before worked at Wilson Packing for two Jerry Hodson was born in 1940. years, returning to the family farm in Today, the LLC milks 100 cows in 1965. He bought the farm on contract a new barn constructed in 1975. But around 1971 or 1972. the original dairy barn remains in use, Then he was faced with a decision. as it has since it was built in 1903. “We weren’t big enough,” said Hodson’s grandparents had two Hodson. “I knew hogs wouldn’t sons and seven daughters. They lived work.” in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North A decision was made, and in 1975, Dakota, then moved to Osage, finally a new free-stall barn with a milking settling on the farm in Plymouth in 1920. parlor was built to The farm was milk 75 head of previously owned cows. The old barn by the Hollroyd would still be used family. The barn is to milk the 30 head a bank barn, higher as it always had. on the west side Upon Boyd with easy access H o d s o n ’ s to the haymow’s retirement, large door by a Joel Dirksen, slight incline. The an 18-year-old lower level on the east side houses the neighbor, started milking parlor and working for the cattle. Jerry Hodson. Hodson said the The two men south end of the eventually farmed barn was where in a partnership. the milking took Dirksen handled place, having 14 -Farm News photo by Clayton Rye crops and stanchions in the machinery, while beginning. HERE, THE TIMBERS USED for The original the framework of the barn are Hodson was in wooden framework shown. The beams are notched and charge of the from 100 years the braces are cut to fit in the notch. livestock. ago remains No nails were used. As time went solid. In the lower by, Dirksen started level, a large tree buying cows, and that supports the in 2015, he bought haymow floor still has the bark on it. the dairy and 20 acres of buildings and The haymow rafters, supports, and dairy lots. Dirksen rents 250 acres of braces are rough-hewn with notches farmland. cut to make them fit together. “He’s really good around He said the barn remains much like it was when the family moved here in machinery,” said Hodson about 1920. Dirksen, “and he likes cows.” The grandparents’ son, Boyd, was While the bigger and better dairy Jerry Hodson’s father. He graduated barn handles most of the milking from Plymouth High School in 1921, chores, Hodson has an appreciation then went to Upper Iowa College at for the dairy barn that has been in use Fayette where he met his wife. When since 1903. his father had heart problems, Boyd While standing in the old barn, Hodson left college to help on the he told how much he appreciates the farm and never went back. warmth that comes from the cattle in Boyd Hodson milked 30 head of the barn and the smells associated with cows and raised Chester white hogs. After graduating from college, an old dairy barn. Farm News writer
-Farm News photos by Clayton Rye
ABOVE: Jerry Hodson stands in the south end of the dairy barn. Just above him are the trees that support the haymow floor, still covered with bark from when the barn was built 100 years ago. BELOW: This is the east side of the bank barn on the Hodson-Nielsen LLC dairy farm on the west edge of Plymouth. It has been in continuous use since it was built in 1903.
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‘Everything has a story’ inside the Voge barn By DOUG CLOUGH Farm News writer
GALVA — When Lois and Paul Voge decided to turn their barn into a place for family gatherings, they soon discovered many signs from the barn’s past. “When we cleaned the barn to make it what it is today,” said Lois Voge, “we could see remnants of how it was during its practical-use days. There were feed bunks for cattle, and we found a nest with chicken eggs. We know that the barn was used to store hay — there were still some bales up in the loft — and that there were hogs before the hog house was built. The chicken eggs didn’t fare very well through the power washing.” The power w a s h i n g occurred in 2002, two decades after the barn had seen any livestock use. “We needed a place to have a graduation reception, so we agreed on transforming the barn,” said Voge. “We hoped to have the party outside, but needed a place to go if it rained. “We started in May with cleanout. Friends loaned us a power washer to do the deep cleaning. At that time, the only way up to the hayloft was up the ladder and through a hole. We started up top and worked our way down washing out all the fly and cattle waste.”
CHEROKEE A set of stairs was completed soon after and a grate capped the entrance from the ladder. “We wanted the grandkids to know about the original design with the entrance by the ladder, so we covered it with the see-through grate,” said Voge. “We were blessed with 11 grandchildren from 2000 to 2009 — one a year, with the exception of two in 2005.” Lois married Paul Voge in 1991. Paul farmed the land with his father Walter all his life before passing away after a battle with cancer in 2018. “Like his dad, Paul enjoyed collecting, and pop bottles were his thing,” said Voge whose son Travis now farms the land. “During the renovation, we made enough shelves to hold his collection, which he started when he was just 6 years old.” Bottles were gathered from the barn, hog house, an adopted schoolhouse on the property, and other places. Paul’s hand-written note tallies 523 on the west wall, 239 on the west floor, 156 in the display case, 81 south of the fridge, 65 on the north wall, 18 by the cabinet, four at the top of the steps, and three by the coolers.
-Farm News photos by Doug Clough
TRAVIS BROCKMAN, left, and his mother Lois Voge, stand behind the bar in the haymow of the Voge barn. Behind the duo is a small portion of the pop bottle collection Voge's late husband Paul had collected from the time he was 6 years old. AT LEFT: Lois Voge stands outside the Voge barn near Galva.
That’s 1,089 bottles of various brands of soda: Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Orange Cruse, Dad’s Root Beer, and others. “Paul had an analytical mind that could remember anything,” said Voge. “If he saw a bottle at an antique store, he knew if he already had it or needed it for his collection.” Voge estimates that some of the oldest bottles are from the late 1800s. Paul’s father Walter farmed the land for some time before officially owning it in 1970 — the official date is buried in some records. The barn was last active with livestock in the 1980s. “Walter farmed for 85
harvests,” said Voge. “His father — Paul’s grandpa — had Walter run the plow and planter when he was 12. “Paul made sure that his dad did a round or two in the fields in what would be the last year of Walter’s life. He was 97 and wasn’t doing very well, but when spring came, it was like he took an energy pill, and he was ready to go. Walter sharecropped with his son right up until he passed away.” Walter was one of the last survivors of horse and plow farming. In the bottom floor of the barn, there are many types of leathers that he used during his lifetime of farming. “Walter always said he could
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back up a tractor and grain cart with no trouble because he had to do it with a team of horses, which was much more difficult,” said Voge. Over the years, the Voge barn has been a centerpiece for graduations, wedding receptions, hunting parties, and a barn dance with live music. “There’s sports memorabilia — Paul owned a baseball card store in Schaller for a time — as well as pieces of furniture owned by family members,” said Voge. “We’ve also kept mementos from the days when this barn was the hub of the farm. Everything has a story.”
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Barn Foundation helps give Ireland barn a facelift By DOUG CLOUGH
CLAY
Farm News writer
EVERLY — Kelli Ireland is the Clay County representative for the Iowa Barn Foundation, and her family is one of the beneficiaries of the Foundation’s fine work. “We have a beautiful barn near Everly that the Foundation helped us restore,” said Ireland. “We have a new roof and siding, which makes it really stand out.” In the past, Ireland’s father Brian Fairchild had pigs and cattle in the barn. Originally, the structure was a dairy barn and still has steel stanchions inside. “Now it’s a home for a lot of farm kitties,” said Ireland. She and her husband Jake moved back in 2017, noticing that the roof on the barn was deteriorating. “We knew we needed to do something to save her,” said Ireland. “We were so happy to receive a grant from the Iowa Barn Foundation to help with the repairs.” While before-and-after photos demonstrate the “wow factor” of the barn built in 1929, there is another interesting history behind the red building. “Our barn has a woman’s name on the front of the cement: Mrs. R.E. Heywood,” said Ireland. “She is a well-known entomologist in Iowa and co-authored the handbook “Dragonflies of North America,” published May 31, 1930. According to the biography of Hortense Butler Heywood, she also wrote many articles concerning the early history of Clay County and the Peterson area; she also wrote and lectured about the hardships encountered during the first years of building a new home and community on the edge of the frontier. “Heywood’s family were some of the first settlers in Clay County. She traveled the world and attended many different universities during the early 1900s,” said Ireland. Heywood’s book became required reading for many entomology students.
-Submitted photo
THE CLAY COUNTY HERITAGE CENTER provided this photo of Hortense Heywood, the former owner of the Ireland farm, in the black dress at far right. “Heywood’s family were some of the first settlers in Clay County," said Ireland.
Ireland’s father’s family rented land from Heywood starting in the 1970s and then rented from Heywood’s daughter, Julia, until she passed away last year. “My dad was able to purchase the land from her estate after she passed,” said Ireland. “He rented the farmstead since 1983, and we’re excited because this year is the first year my dad owned the land. It’s also the first year my husband had his own land to rent. Jake has been helping my family farm since 2017, but is an official farmer this year by renting his own land.” Ireland worked with the Clay County Heritage Center to acquire a photo of Heywood. “They were also able to look at their plat books and found that in 1970 her family had owned the farm for 98 years,” said Ireland. “The land has only belonged to her family and ours since 1872.”
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ABOVE: The Ireland barn stands out near Everly in Clay County. LEFT: The photo at left demonstrates what the barn looked like before its facelift.
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Denison-area barn graces Valley View farm By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
DENISON — “Tough” doesn’t even begin to describe farming in Crawford County in 1932. As the Great Depression gripped the country, harvest was underway in Iowa (back when corn was harvested by hand), and in Goodrich Township, an essential part of the Bergstadt family’s farm went up in flames. “The old barn burned down, and some livestock died in the fire,” said Dennis Bergstadt, 84, whose family lived on the farm (known as Valley View Farm) northwest of Denison. A local carpenter rebuilt the barn for the Bergstadt family, who had purchased the farm on contract. “The carpenter earned $2 a day, and his crew got $1 a day,” said Bergstadt, who noted that the barn’s new wooden shingles were stored in the farmhouse temporarily as construction progressed. The neighbors helped shingle the new barn, which was designed to house horses on one side and dairy cows on the other. “Back then, neighbors helped
CRAWFORD
-Farm News photos by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
ABOVE: This vintage sign championing BP Feed hangs in the Bergstadt’s barn. RIGHT: Dennis and Marlene Bergstadt stand in front of the barn on their Crawford County farm.
each other with all kinds of jobs,” said Bergstadt, the son of Harold and Hilda Bergstadt. “They did it all with hand
tools — no electric power tools.” The barn was completed in just a couple months, before the year was out. The state-of-the-art barn contained a large metal manure carrier that ran on a metal track, said Bergstadt, whose family moved to Denison when he was 7 years old. “I never liked living in town,” said Bergstadt, who graduated from Denison High School in 1957. He moved back to the farm after marrying his wife, Marlene, in 1961. The barn was in fairly good shape, even though a number of tenants had lived on the farm through the late 1940s into the early 1960s, when Harold Bergstadt rented out the farm. One of the tenants raised hogs in the barn. Another tenant, Leonard Spahn, lived on the farm about 13 years, Bergstadt noted. When Bergstadt returned to the farm, he enjoyed raising cattle, including Herefords, Simmetals and Charolais. “I was mainly a cow-calf producer,” said Bergstadt, who raised cattle from
See CRAWFORD, Page 45C
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'DOODV &R EDUQ YHQXH RŲHUV ¶FDVXDO HOHJDQFH· By KRISTIN DANLEY GREINER Farm News writer
ADEL — Nestled on 40 acres outside Adel sits a beautiful barn used for special events such as weddings. Called Country Lake Lodge, the barn reminds owner Kendra Kasischke of her youth growing up on a working farm in central Iowa. Although her career took her across the Midwest, she eventually was able to settle down on the Dallas County property and be closer to her parents and family. “I built the barn in 2016. My father’s health was failing and I’d left Iowa 30 years ago. I wanted to get back. While it wasn’t a great place for my career, I was inspired to build the barn after my three nieces who were getting married struggled to find a venue big enough for what they needed,” Kasischke said. “As the token female in my corporate career, I had years of experience setting up meetings and managing events from 12 to 500 people. Event planning was a big part of my career.” As a reflection of her agricultural roots, Kasischke incorporated wood from a 132-year-old white oak tree that had fallen
DALLAS on her family’s century farm to create the fireplace mantel, 22-foot-long bar top and a table in a bride’s room. “I was able to bring my family history into the barn even though it’s 75 miles away,” Kasischke said. “I wanted the design to be something simple and not fussy. I hired an Amish crew out of Albia to build the barn and then we had them back to build the cabin on the property. We tried hard to use local contractors and vendors. We try to buy local whenever we can so we’re supporting our community.” The cabin will be available to rent in 2024, whether for families on the weekends or wedding parties who may want to stay on the property. The rolling land has deep treefilled ravines carved on both sides, which make the area quite private and secluded. “It’s the most gorgeous drive into a parklike setting. People appreciate it. We’re just 10 minutes from the west mixmaster and
See DALLAS, Page 45C
-Submitted photo
CALLED COUNTRY LAKE LODGE, this barn reminds owner Kendra Kasischke of her youth growing up on a working farm in central Iowa. The barn was built by an Amish crew from Albia.
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Dickinson Co. barn withstands storm damage By KAREN SCHWALLER Farm News writer
MILFORD — Roger and Deb Wittrock’s barn is nestled in the rolling hills of pasture land and corn west of Milford. The Wittrocks guess their barn to be close to 100 years old, and said it’s held together with nails, not pegs. Yet the foundation tells the story of its age. “The barn had a stone foundation,” said Roger Wittrock. “(Over time) the foundation was redone and cemented out. Part of it is still here, though,” he said. The 54-foot-by-35-foot structure has been used for livestock ever since Wittrock and first wife, Dixie, first moved on to the farm in 1967. The Wittrocks housed pigs in the barn, while cows grazed outside in the pasture. Today the barn is home to cows that calve annually, complete with a “vet shack” that contains all necessary items for when cows have trouble calving, or when cows or calves become sick. The cows and calves are owned by Wittrock’s grandson, Kaleb Vanderpool. The barn features an entry area, two large animal pens, and a full haymow. It featured stanchions and a central feeding area at one
DICKINSON
time, which were eventually removed. It underwent some work when a strong -Farm News photos by Karen Schwaller wind peeled part of the roof off of the front of the barn in the summer of 2019, along ROGER WITTROCK shows how his barn is laid out. He said there used to be a central with some of the siding. feeding area in the center of the barn, and livestock would gather all around it to eat. Wittrock said when the barn was fixed, LEFT: This barn was home to hogs all the while Roger and Dixie Wittrock’s children were
See DICKINSON, Page 35C
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Brugjeld-Peterson barn a lesson in history By DOUG CLOUGH Farm News writer
WALLINGFORD — “The BrugjeldPeterson Historic Farmstead is a learning center for farming, blacksmithing, and living history,” said Stacie Berg-Nelson, Peterson Point Preservation Foundation president. “Brugjeld is Norwegian, and this is my third great-grandparent’s farmstead. The property was purchased in 1861 by William Peterson, who is the son of Peder and Gjertrud Brugjeld, who were the homesteaders for this farm; Peder eventually Americanized his last name to Peterson. “They came from Balestrand, Norway, to America in 1848 on the Dorothea, with 80 relatives. Peder came with $10,000 and three sets of oxen, a team of horses, and dairy cattle, determined to buy 160 acres for each of his six sons. This area was covered in red oaks, and the house and the barn were constructed with that wood, which is why you don’t find any on the property now. Later came the blacksmith building which was their trade.” The Petersons were blacksmiths, woodsmen, and farmers.
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“All the hardware in the barn — hinges, latches, hoops to tether livestock, everything — was made at their blacksmith shop on the premises,” said Berg-Nelson. “As farmers, they grew grains and potatoes and raised sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, and horses.”
See EMMET, Page 35C
-Farm News photos by Doug Clough
THE PETERSON POINT PRESERVATION FARMSTEAD is sandwiched between High Lake and Cunningham Slough. “The bodies of water were an attraction at the time for sure,” said Berg-Nelson. “You have to have water for both people and livestock; the red oaks were plentiful for wood as well.” LEFT: Stacie Berg-Nelson shows off one of many pieces made in the late 1800 Brugjeld-Peterson blacksmith shop. Throughout the entire barn, you can find the men’s handiwork with hinges, loops to tether livestock, as well as hooks and latches.
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Boone Continued from Page 2C
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from Granger who hired Amish carpenters from Chariton. The crew spent about three weeks that fall repairing the barn, building new doors and installing new windows. Around this time, Rhonda Hill found a lightning rod at an antique store in Des Moines to add to the roof. Today, the Hill’s barn also showcases a barn quilt. The couple worked with a Spencer-area business that printed a Harvest Star pattern on steel, using colors the Hills selected. The two 4-foot-by-8-foot pieces are positioned side by side to create the barn quilt. It’s great to give the barn a new lease on life, said Morey Hill, a director with the American Soybean Association. “These old barns are built to last.”
and jackhammered sheep manure out of the barn to clean it up,” Tami Ebel said. Ebel and her husband, a truck driver with Wells Ag, have done all the restoration work on their barn, with some help from family members. “When we needed help with siding, my brother was willing to trade his labor for a used car he needed,” said Tami Ebel, who grew up in Cherokee. The Ebels were among the first barn owners in Buena Vista County to install a barn quilt. When their original barn quilt faded, they repainted it several times through the years. They decided they didn’t want to do that again, so they eventually replaced the barn quilt with a vintage, metal S&H Green Stamps sign that Tami purchased at
-Farm News photos by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
THIS BOONE COUNTY BARN, owned by Morey and Rhonda Hill, was fortunate to survive the Aug. 10, 2020, derecho. The above photo shows the damage shortly after the derecho.The barn door, at left, shows the Hill Farm insignia.
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-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
THE EBELS DID A LOT OF WORK to clean up the barn when they bought their acreage. Now the barn includes storage space as well as this bar and other vintage items.
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Place for hay is now a place to play By CLAYTON RYE Farm News writer
SHEFFIELD — In 1917, Ole Koenigsberg moved onto the farm south of Sheffield where his son Melvin Koenigsberg now lives. Melvin is the youngest of 10 children. Ole Koenigsberg bought the farm in 1919, consisting of 80 acres with a mortgage of $8,000 and 40 acres with a mortgage of $6,000. The barn was built around 1919 with lumber that came from Charles City. As a thank you gift for the lumber purchase, Ole received a rose bush that, 100 years later, still blooms every year. The north end of the barn had four stalls for horses, while stanchions for milking were on the east side. Melvin Koenigsberg remembers when the farm got electricity in 1941. The first item the family bought was a refrigerator. The second item they bought was a milker. Ole Koenigsberg and two of his sons were dairymen. “We went to town Saturday night to celebrate not milking,” said Melvin Koenigsberg. The two sons, Melvin’s brothers, lived on the farm before Melvin moved onto the farm in 1959 after his marriage to Francis, a native of Clarinda who taught school in Sheffield. He has lived on the farm for almost all of his life except for the time when his parents moved to Sheffield while he was a junior in high
FRANKLIN school, followed by being in an Army MASH unit from 1954 to 1957 and two years in town. Later, Koenigsberg had the stanchions removed to make room for hog farrowing. He farrowed eight sows, three times a year, even using the alleyway to gain additional space. He also raised beef cattle — 20 head of feeder cattle at a time. The barn’s haymow never had loose hay, only bales. In the 1960s, the barn received a new roof. Three of the barn’s sides have siding, while the south side has tin siding. Now the livestock are gone, but that does not mean the barn is sitting idle. Where there were once pigs in the north end is an electric train set. The south end has what could be called a miniature golf course, with artificial grass in several wood frames for testing someone’s putting skills. Climbing the stairway to the haymow reveals a wide open area with two basketball hoops, knotted ropes for climbing, a stereo, and a display from the Sheffield High School class of 1951 reunion. In the corner, a few bales of straw complete the haymow. It may look like an oldfashioned red barn on the outside, but inside it’s a playland.
-Farm News photos by Clayton Rye
ABOVE: With its barn quilt and Century Farm sign below it, Melvin Koenigsberg's barn shows its history and preservation. LEFT: Today, a train set is laid out on the north end of the barn, where there were originally stalls for horses.
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Brown family rebuilt barn after 1957 tornado
By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
CHURDAN — When Allan and Della Brown purchased a Cedar Township farm in 1942, the Greene County property offered room for their growing family (which eventually included 12 children) and a big barn southwest of the farmhouse.
GREENE “When I was a kid, I milked cows in that barn and remember listening to the Lone Ranger on the radio,” said Paul Brown, 81, who still lives on the Churdan-area farm where he grew up, along with his wife, Sally. The barn was a key part of the Brown’s farm until the early morning hours of July 4, 1957, when a tornado tore through Greene County and beyond. “While that barn went through plenty of storms and blizzards, it couldn’t withstand that tornado, which took about a barn per section between Lake City and Churdan,” Brown said. Some of the Brown’s 4-H calves were inside the barn when the storm hit. “They survived, but they never really thrived after that,” Brown said. The Brown family moved their livestock, including their dairy cows, to a nearby farm whose barn was still standing. The Browns also hired a carpenter from Glidden to build a new barn, which was constructed northeast of the farmhouse. Construction started in the late summer of 1957. The 60-foot-by-48-foot barn was completed before the 1957 harvest season. “The carpenters used prefabricated rafters, which made the process go faster,” Brown said. While the new barn went up quickly, it took weeks to pick up all the debris from the tornado. “My dad had survived the Great Depression, so he wanted to save everything he could,” Brown said. “Some parts of the old barn were re-used in the new barn.”
-Farm News photos by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
SALLY AND PAUL BROWN stand in front of their barn on the farm where Paul has lived since he was a boy. LEFT: The Browns' Greene County farm has been in the family since 1942, when it was purchased by Paul's parents, Allan and Della Brown.
The Browns kept dairy cows on one side of the barn (which included 18 dairy stanchions) and beef cows on the other side. The new barn also included concrete floors and a concrete gutter in the milking area.
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“Milking cows was a hard, dirty job, but we made it as fun as we could,” said Brown, whose family milked 22 Holstein cows. Brown was strong enough to carry two full, 10-gallon cream cans through the barn. “We worked with the Lytton Creamery, and Earl Troxel from Lanesboro was our milk
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man,” he recalled. The haymow was also an important part of the barn. “Back then, we chopped hay and blew it into the haymow,” Brown said. “We filled it to the top more than once.” Each summer, the barn provided shelter, when needed, for horses that the Brown boys (including Paul and his older brothers Gary and Earl) helped break for the Winkelman family of Lohrville. “Some of those horses were pretty mean, but we were young and up for the challenge,” said Brown, who graduated from Lohrville High School in 1961. Barns weren’t all work and no play for Brown and his buddies. “We’d play basketball in a neighbor’s haymow,” recalled Brown, who noted that the court kept getting bigger as the livestock were fed day by day. “Our motto was, ‘no blood, no foul.’” Brown knew from the time he was in junior high school that he wanted to be a farmer. He started farming full-time in 1963. “Back then, I’d get up at 5 a.m. or so to milk the cows before I headed to the field. I’d work 40 acres by noon or so. Then I’d start planting after lunch with a four-row planter and a 770 Oliver. On a good day, I could get done with those 40 acres before dark.” Brown enjoyed raising his children on the farm. After he and his wife, Sally, phased out of dairy production and beef cattle in the 1970s, they started farrowing hogs in the barn. They hired a welding shop in Manson to make gates for hog pens in the barn. While the hogs are long gone, the Browns still use the barn for storage. The barn protects the flag poles that are installed at the Lanesboro Cemetery each Memorial Day weekend for the Avenue of Flags. The barn also includes a “mini museum” of sorts in the haymow. “It’s basically stuff no one else wanted,” Brown joked. The barn is more than just another farm building, Brown added. “There are a lot of
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Stanhope barn draws family home By LORI BERGLUND Farm News writer
STANHOPE — Jared and Janie Ostrem were looking for a place to raise their family when they came upon a farmstead south of Stanhope that Jared seemed to quickly know was “the one.”
HAMILTON “I appreciate barns a lot, so when we bought this place it was a big draw for me,” Ostrem said. Gary and Linda Erickson had owned the place for several years previously and used the barn for hog production. It was in good shape, and it was even the right color. “It’s got to be red,” Ostrem said simply. Ostrem grew up in the area and much of his family is still farming nearby. While he left the farm to work in ag business, the couple knew this was where they wanted to raise their family. “That’s what brought us back here,” Ostrem said. “I wanted my kids to have the opportunity to grow up in the country and be exposed to agriculture.” Indeed, this is a family that works together on this busy acreage. Son Mason and daughters Brynn and Amanda are active in 4-H and FFA, and Amanda was even crowned the 2023 Hamilton County Fair Queen. Far from being an empty shell, this barn is a working facility. It is home to hogs and cats and even a miniature horse that wanders in
-Farm News photo by Lori Berglund
JARED OSTREM said a barn in beautiful condition helped draw his family to this Stanhope area farmstead.
when called. “That’s our money-eater,” Ostrem said of “Loki,” the miniature horse. “It serves no purpose but to be friendly.” And friendly it is, nosing its way in to be petted by a new visitor. Loki seems to be a good ambassador for the barn as a whole. The barn had been well-
maintained, with a pig grow-out area to the east. “It still has the original wood in it and some original wood pieces, so we wanted to protect it as good as we could,” Ostrem said. There was new metal siding already on part of the barn, and he finished the remaining area with additional new siding. A steel roof keeps the barn dry so that it will
last for years to come. “They must have redone the floor in the barn,” Ostrem said. “Everything was stabilized for the grow-out area.” Much of the barn’s interior had been opened up to allow space for more hogs. But since Ostrem only raises a few show pigs, he began closing it up a little more, creating smaller rooms, and adding
insulation. “We closed things in a little because we’re not growing pigs on a large scale and we wanted it a little warmer in here,” he said. He is converting many of the areas and adding farrowing rooms to keep the sows comfortable. “Buford” is the boar who serves as eye candy for the sows that then receive artificial insemination. He’s a Yorkshire, who is uncommonly friendly and tame as boars go. Ostrem is expecting at least four sows to farrow early this winter, and is hoping for a fifth one, but remains concerned about the success of the artificial insemination for that one. Ostrem said it’s just a small operation of show pigs, but he would like to grow it a little bit. The barn is just one of several busy outbuildings on the farmstead. There are two old farrowing houses that date perhaps to the 1970s, but are still in good shape, each with a solid roof. Ostrem has three horses — including the miniature horse, a pony, and a quarter horse — in one barn, along with a few dog kennels and some ducks. The other old farrowing house he is converting into a workshop and storage area. The barn was eye candy itself for Ostrem and helped draw this family to a place and a community that they love to call home. After all, it’s not really all about hogs or horses, it’s about family for the Ostrems. “It’s a small community and it’s nice,” Ostrem said. “It’s a good place to grow kids.”
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Boehnke recalls saving family barn as a teen By CLAYTON RYE Farm News writer
GARNER — The barn on the farm of David and Melanie Boehnke is a striking sight, even when viewed from over a half mile away on U.S. Highway 18. The bright red color with the barn quilt on the side shows Boehnke’s commitment to preserving the barn. But there was a time when the barn could have been lost. When David Boehnke was around 13 or 14 years old, in the late 1980s, he recalls the family burning the accumulation of paper 50-pound cattle feed bags. While it was still evening, embers from the fire drifted to the roof and started the shingles on fire. Boehnke was home alone as his father Philip had left, so he grabbed a hose from the garden and worked to extinguish the fire. However, to complicate the situation, the fire was dropping from the shingles onto the hay so that the hay was on fire. Then the fire would restart, even after it appeared to be out. “I got it out, just barely,” said Boehnke. “We were on the verge of losing the barn.” When his father returned and David told
HANCOCK him what had happened, his father’s reaction was indifference. “I thought I was a hero,” he said. “He was not as happy as I thought he would be.” It seems that possibly the elder Boehnke would have preferred collecting an insurance check and building a new barn. But the barn did get a steel roof after the fire. David’s parents, Philip and Sharon, eventually moved off the farm and David, with his new wife Melanie, moved onto the farm. However, the barn’s appearance was deteriorating. “I thought it was ugly,” said Melanie Boehnke. But David Boehnke insisted that the barn should not be torn down, and over three or four years, the barn received the necessary improvements, including differing barn quilts
See HANCOCK, Page 35C
-Farm News photos by Clayton Rye
THE BARN ON THE FARM of David and Melanie Boehnke looks striking today, but came close to being lost to fire in the 1980s.
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A well-maintained barn awaits its next job By CLAYTON RYE Farm News writer
NEW PROVIDENCE — Lowell Broer believes the barn on his farm northwest of New Providence was built by his grandfather, Ludwig Broer, around 1918. Ludwig Broer, known locally as Louie, was born in Germany in 1863 and arrived in America in 1881. “He came here with nothing,” said Lowell Broer. One of Ludwig Broer’s first jobs was working for the railroad, being paid the standard wage of 7 cents an hour. He was riding the train, got off at the Hardin County town of Lawn Hill and walked a quarter mile to a farm owned by Bart Blair. Broer then went to work for Blair and eventually bought his farm. Over the years, Broer bought more land until he owned 1,000 contiguous acres. Then he lost it all in the 1930s. He was able to re-own 700 of those acres and had them paid for in the early 1940s. He passed away at age 94 in 1957. Ludwig Broer’s barn was built as a
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-Farm News photo by Clayton Rye
general-purpose barn, with room for 10 teams of horses. He milked a half-dozen cows by hand. Much of the barn’s interior remains in original and excellent condition. Ted Broer, Lowell Broer’s father, later took over the farm from his father Ludwig and continued operating the farm in much the same way as his father. Ted Broer retired in 1952, and Lowell Broer assumed the operation of the farm. One of the first things Lowell Broer did was to quit dairying. After trying to farrow in the barn, a hog confinement building was built to farrow and finish the hogs and he converted the barn to a gestation barn. The haymow was used for storing bales, which were used for bedding the sows. Cattle were fed in a lot north of the barn until 1978 when a new cattle facility was built.
LOWELL BROER'S barn has always been kept in excellent condition since being built by his grandfather over 100 years ago.
See HARDIN, Page 35C
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Humboldt Co. barn once hosted craft shows By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
HARDY — When Lonnie and Deb Ruberg purchased their Lake Township acreage in Humboldt County, complete with a classic barn, it was a bit of a gamble.
HUMBOLDT “I agreed to buy this acreage without my husband knowing about it right away,” said Deb Ruberg, who noted that she and Lonnie bought the property in 1993. “I saw potential for this place.” While Deb Ruberg had grown up on a Humboldt County farm near Thor, Lonnie was a town kid who hadn’t lived in the country before. It didn’t take long, however, before he enjoyed country living as much as Deb does. The barn has long been a key part of the Ruberg’s Lake Township property, which the Clancy family owned for decades. The Rubergs purchased the acreage from long-time owners Keith and Wanda (Clayton) Brayton. It’s unclear exactly when the barn was built, Deb Ruberg said. A Clancy family member thought the distinctive clay-block barn and silo were built in the late 1800s, while Humboldt County assessor’s records say they were built in 1915. “The barn was built before the house,” said Deb Ruberg, whose farmhouse was built in 1918.
-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
OWNERS LONNIE AND DEB RUBERG once used this barn to host a craft show known as the Heartland Boutique. The Humboldt County assessor’s records list this barn and silo as being built in 1915.
Through the years, the barn has housed a variety of livestock, including cattle, horses, pygmy goats and hogs, which were raised in the south side of the barn. Previous generations even raised chickens in the hayloft, noted Deb Ruberg, who added that there were water hydrants in the hayloft. The barn was amazingly tidy
when the Rubergs purchased the property. “The barn was in great condition and was really clean,” Deb Ruberg said. “We didn’t have to do much more than remove 50 cans of used paint that had been stored in the hayloft.” After the Rubergs moved to their acreage, it wasn’t long before
Deb started hosting a craft show known as the Heartland Boutique in the barn around 1996. She was inspired by a lady who owned a barn near Waseca, Minnesota, and hosted craft shows there. “The Heartland Boutique offered a little bit of everything,” said Deb Ruberg, who hosted the event in May and September each
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year for about six or seven years. “We’d display vendors’ items in the barn, from crafts to quilts to homemade jams and jellies.” Lonnie Ruberg also sold wooden shelves, pie safes and other items he built in his woodworking shop, which he created in the north side of the barn. Customers could stop by and browse the merchandise, which was supplied by 20 to 30 vendors. The items were showcased throughout the barn’s main floor and the haymow. Deb Ruberg, her mother, Ruberg’s daughter, Cassie, and Ruberg’s friend from Gowrie ran the Heartland Boutique, which grew to include a food vendor. “We did a lot of advertising and mailed postcards to promote the boutique,” said Ruberg, whose team gave customers metal buckets that functioned as shopping baskets. The event thrived until bigbox stores and online retail giants began selling more craft and home decor items at prices that entrepreneurs could never match. While the Heartland Boutique is now part of the barn’s history, Deb Ruberg is glad the barn is still part of the acreage. She enjoys photographing barns when she and her husband take motorcycle trips. “I’ve always been interested in barns,” Ruberg said. “As a farm girl, I hate seeing barns torn down.” Every barn is unique, she added. “I love barns. I’m glad our barn has been well-used and wellloved.”
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Hancock Continued from Page 30C
Farm News/Fort Dodge, Iowa
Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
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Dickinson Continued from Page 20C
on the north and south sides. “We did part of it one year, part of it the next year,” he said. Boehnke said the barn always had livestock in it. When he left for college, the cattle left at the same time. The Boehnkes are thinking about making the barn into a hangout for the kids, where they can play and exercise. The Boehnkes are parents of Charles, age 10; Samuel, age 7; Greta, age 5; and Frederick, age 1 ½. Charles and Samuel have expressed their interest in being farmers. Charles is passionate about wanting to farm, according to his dad. So it would seem the barn’s future will be secure.
they pushed the west end out and braced it, and the haymow floor on the damaged end was jacked back up and re-braced. “There was a big haymow door up there and it took that all off and it was laying inside the barn,” Wittrock said. “We were going to tear the barn down after that storm,” said Deb Wittrock. “But we found out that it would cost more to do that than to fix it up, so we decided to fix it.” The Wittrocks decided to have new metal put on the north side of the barn and some on the top of the west end, -Farm News photo by Clayton Rye and all new white tin on the roof, so the roof would still maintain its aesthetic THE SOUTH SIDE of the beauty. The barn’s front peak was not Boehnke barn faces U.S. -Submitted photo replaced at that time. Highway 18, where it is The rest of the siding has been on A STRONG WIND peeled part of the roof off of the barn in 2019, and pushed easily seen. The barn has for decades — “brick red” on the out the west end. The Wittrocks put new tin on the roof and north side of the two barn quilts, one on the south and west sides, featuring molded barn, and re-braced the west end so it stands up straight again today. north and one on the south, brick-like shapes. The east end of the and each is different. barn features white metal siding. Roger Wittrock said the barn has a big red barn. They can put up all the family a few years ago, she bonded been part of his farm story since he has (pole) buildings they want and they with Vanderpool in the barn as they met lived there. look nice and modern, but there’s just periodically there while he taught her Continued from Page 31C “We’d be lost without it,” he said. something about a farm with a red barn about cows and calving. Deb Wittrock added, “When you with white doors and trim.” “It was really nice to have that time Livestock Farms. In 1855, think of a farm, it just needs to have The barn was used for She said, as a newcomer to the there,” she said. on the site where the barn is livestock until 1996 when located, a town was platted it was no longer needed for and named Quebec. By that use. Continued from Page 21C 1860 the town of Quebec An antique dealer wanted had a store and four houses. to store his antiques in the However, a tornado later now-empty barn, so before The barn was last active to “oats” in Norwegian. went through, destroying he moved his collection into “Our hope is to get the town, and it was never in 1980. In the spring the barn, he power washed it. of 1994, the Emmet rebuilt. The main floor of the barn, enough funding to restore Sesquicentennial Lowell Broer’s daughter County besides being in original the barn,” said Berg-Nelson, Commission voted to and her husband are condition, is very clean, as if who modestly estimates the renovate the Peterson Point considering making the barn waiting for the next animals cost to be approximately Preserve; however, in 1995 into a wedding venue. The to move in. $200,000. “We want to hire spacious haymow would and 1996, two workers were Lowell Broer said that at folks who are familiar with be where a large ceremony asked to putty and replace one time there was a sign window glass, but instead, could take place. on the barn that said Quebec this type of craftsmanship; they installed a much the Amish come to mind.” smaller and newer window, To this end, the Peterson which was totally out of Point Preservation place with the barn’s historic -Submitted photo Foundation does its best to character. At the same time, the loft window disappeared keep this farmstead in front THE PETERSON POINT PRESERVATION BOARD has as did the overhangs on the of people’s minds with open a plethora of old photos from the barn’s hay day. Here barn doors. houses featuring games, you can see the size and strength of the horses as they A tin roof has been are shown just outside of the barn. food, live music, tours, added, which is credited milking cows, and ice cream with preserving the barn. lead to three horse stalls. are also two holes to throw made from that fresh milk. Inside the barn are many From the size of the stalls, hay down to the dairy cattle. remnants of a healthy For updates on the horses must have been Inside the barn, near structure. There are roughfundraisers and the overall large workhorses. the horse stalls, are initials hewn timbers with evidence progress of the farmstead -Farm News photo by Clayton Rye Granite stones comprise from the Petersons and their of markings from a swinging renovation, search for farmhands. On a beam over the foundation of the oat axe. There is a traditional THE GROUND FLOOR of the barn remains very similar hayloft with an area for oats “Brugjeld Peterson Historic a bin, is written “Havre” in and hay feeders as they do to its original condition. Farmstead” on Facebook. gold paint, which translates and subsequent chutes that the rest of the barn. There
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A tale of two barns in Ida Co. By DOUG CLOUGH Farm News writer
HOLSTEIN — What Ida County’s Ron Rice remembers most fondly about growing up on the farm is time with family. “Baling hay and straw with our cousins and combining is right at the top of the list of good memories,” said Rice. “We walked beans all morning, getting down on our hands and knees to pull button weeds, and baled hay all afternoon in the heat.” The barn closest to the highway was primarily a horse barn built in 1910; the barn to its east was a cattle barn and bears the date of the first Rice generation, Oscar Sr. and Elizabeth Rice’s ownership: 1893. Ron’s parents, Oscar Jr. and Marjorie Rice, were the secondgeneration owners. Ron and Kathy Rice, along with their son Ryan of Gowrie, are the current, third and fourth generation owners. “The cattle barn has been part of the Rice lineage since the 1920s or 30s,” said Ron Rice whose grandparents came from the Dubuque area. “The family sign went up in 2012. The barn had a hayloft, floor to ceiling. Our 4-H calves lived here; our dad was a leader for over 25 years. We had mostly cattle and some hogs when I was a kid. The farm started with dairy cows and then Dad converted to beef cows.” Ron’s Dad, Oscar Jr., was born on the farm and grew up here. Ron and his four brothers, Roy, who passed away in 2021, Ray, Kent, and Ron’s twin brother Don all have memories of the barns. “The barn was a continually changing and welcoming
IDA
OVER THE YEARS, the 1910 horse barn changed to a cattle barn. “I vaguely remember a barn full of milk cows,” said Kent Rice. “By full, I mean about 12 cows, which is a far cry from a full barn today."
-Farm News photos by Doug Clough
playground for me as a boy in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Ray Rice. “In spring and early summer, the barn provided a cool escape from rain or heat with its sturdy ladders to climb, numerous hideouts, and views of the world from the upper windows. “As summer progressed, the grain bins were the perfect landing spot when jumping through a hatch. In fall, the barn offered escape as the straw bales became building blocks for tunnels, forts, valleys, or cities. When the hay was fed to livestock, the familiar floor-to-ceiling rope supported climbing to heights beyond what Mom would approve. In late winter, portions of the hardwood floor appeared as the ideal spot for basketball. In the spring, the
THE EAST BARN was a cattle barn and bears the date of the first Rice generation, Oscar Sr. and Elizabeth Rice’s ownership. Ron and Kathy Rice, along with their son Ryan of Gowrie, are the current, third and fourth generation owners. Ron’s parents, Oscar Jr. and Marjorie Rice, were the second-generation owners. LEFT: Ron Rice stands at an entry door to the 1910 horse barn, later converted to a cattle barn. "Everytime I pass through this threshold," said Rice, "I think about how many head of cattle had to make their way through here to create this wear pattern."
massive open spaces were back for running, jumping, climbing, and imagining the future. Dad taught us lessons by example. When we were kids, the lowa motto was ‘A Place to Grow’ and that was reflected inside the barn.” Over the years, the 1910 horse barn changed to a cattle barn. “I vaguely remember a barn full of milk cows,” said Kent Rice. “By full, I mean about 12 cows, which is a far cry from a full barn today.
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The milk was stored in a 10-gallon can in a bath of refrigerated water. Our game was for each of us to put a hand in the water and see who could leave it there the longest. The number of cows changed from 12 to two, and shortly after to none as the barn changed to the farrowing house for 12 sows.” In the early 1980s, the barns began to be used primarily for storage of machinery, cars, and Christmas decorations. A quilt
block — symbolizing corn and soybean production — was added to the outside of the 1910 horse barn in the late 1990s. In 2005, the siding was repaired and repainted on the 1910 barn. Ron and Kathy Rice took ownership in 2010. “My brothers and I loaded a lot of hay and straw into the barns,” said Ron Rice, who is employed by United Bank of Iowa. “Grain bins line the west side of the 1910 barn. Two bins held corn and one bin held oats for livestock feed. The remaining bin stored government-sealed grain.” When Rice thinks of the barns now, he sees them as “yard art” reminding him of the nostalgia of a farm upbringing. “The best part of being a farm kid was driving tractors,” said Rice. “The east barn now stores machinery, but the 1910 barn exists solely for nostalgic purposes. Sentimentally, it was about being able to spend a day with your dad. It was a great way to grow up.”
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Livestock below and a basketball game above By CLAYTON RYE Farm News writer
ST. BENEDICT — Steve Bernhard grew up on his family’s farm located across the blacktop from St. Benedict, where he and his wife Dawn now live.
KOSSUTH The community of St. Benedict is located east of Algona, very close to the KossuthHancock county line. It was named after the St. Benedict Catholic Church, which was the focal point of the community. However, the church has since been torn down. Bernhard attended the St. Benedict parochial school and was one of five children of David and Darlene Bernhard, who bought the farm in 1964. One of the first things done to the barn after moving in was to remove the cow manure that had accumulated to such a depth that Bernhard said the cows’ backs were rubbing the rafters. The 46-by-70-foot barn was built in 1907. During the 1960s, an older gentleman stopped by the farm and said he had helped build it. Built with wooden pegs, the barn was built as a bank barn, with the front being four feet higher than the back and with an icehouse on the north side. It was originally built for dairy cows, and the dairy equipment remains in place today. The barn has always held livestock of various kinds. In 1964, it was converted to a place for farrowing hogs. In 1975, it was used for the transfer of purebred embryos into beef cattle. For 25 years, 150 ewes lambed in the barn. After the sheep, chickens were kept in the barn and are there to this day, laying colorful eggs that seem destined for an Easter basket. The barn has been shingled twice since the Bernhards bought it; the first time was
ABOVE: The basketball hoop from years ago still has a prominent place in the haymow. BELOW: Peg construction was used to fasten the framework of the barn when it was built.
-Farm News photos by Clayton Rye
STEVE AND DAWN BERNHARD stand in front of the Bernhard barn, which has never been without livestock.
in 1964. However, the steel roof installed by Four Seasons Construction is the one Bernhard hopes is the last roof the barn will need, thereby ensuring its future. Like many barns, there is a basketball hoop still in place in the haymow. Bernhard said when the mow was full, the first place to have the bales removed was the area around the hoop so the floor could be used for a game of basketball. He recalls walking with a group of his friends from the parochial school to the
haymow for a one-hour game of basketball over the noon hour before afternoon classes began. He remembers how the bouncing basketball would raise dust from the haymow floor. Not only was there dust from the hay, but also hog dust from the hogs being raised in the barn. Then, after their basketball game, it was back to afternoon classes with all of them wearing a layer of dust — and nobody seemed to mind.
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Barn serves multifaceted purposes in Lyon Co. By KRISTIN DANLEY GREINER
LYON
Farm News writer
INWOOD — When flood waters filled up the Lyon County conservation office in 2014, leaders decided to build a wooden barn that would double as the county conservation office and a nature center with the perfect architectural design for renting out for weddings, graduation parties and other special events. The county purchased 18 acres adjacent to Lake Pahoja in 2013 before the flood. Finally, in 2021, the $1.97 million Lake Pahoja Nature Center came to fruition. It houses a wildlife diorama alongside rotating exhibits inside the two-story building that includes a fireplace, coffee house setup and a patio and deck overlooking Garrett’s Pond. The basement is where educational classes are held. Some of the more impressive features of the wood barn include a fireplace built with rock from the
surrounding area, a Native American artifacts display and live animal displays, including a 450-gallon cylinder fish tank with native fish and a working bee hive. Lyon County naturalist Emily Ostrander said the barn concept was chosen by Craig Van Otterloo, past director of Lyon County Conservation. “There are similar barn style buildings that use Legacy Building kits in the adjacent area. The Harrisburg apple orchard has the same kit but with different features and no basement,” Ostrander said. “Ringgold County has a similar Legacy kit for their nature center.” Lake Pahoja welcomes 70,000 to 90,000 visitors every year and has 90 camping sites, eight cabins, a four-mile bike trail, six picnic shelters with modern restroom
facilities, three playgrounds, two volleyball courts, a basketball court and horseshoe pits. There’s a gift shop, lounge area with WiFi and a conference room at the education center. The lower level of the nature center has event space that can hold up to 180 guests and includes a kitchen, serving counter, televisions, tables and chairs. Justin Smith, director of the Lyon County Conservation Board, said the nature center welcomes more than 60 field trip groups and offers more than 100 programs each year. “We do offer the lower level as a rental but it is mostly utilized for environmental education, such as camps for kiddos, workshops for adults and fundraising events like Bingo for Conservation, and lots of -Submitted photo other fun programming,” Smith said. “Rentals have been family reunions, Christmas parties, weddings, THIS LYON COUNTY BARN serves as the county conservation business meetings, retreats, training office and a nature center. Its lower level is available to be rented for weddings, graduation parties and other special events. classes and a band concert.”
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/RYH DW ÀUVW VLJKW By KRISTIN DANLEY GREINER Farm News writer
MARSHALLTOWN — A farm abandoned in the 1960s was quickly snatched up at an auction by Kathy Myers and her husband in 2004. They knew the place was a “total disaster,” but they had been looking for an acreage and fell in love with the barn. “We had to do a lot of work on the whole place. There were birds flying around and mice inside the house,” Kathy Myers said. “We put on a new roof immediately, new windows, pulled out the carpet from the 1960s and it took a couple years to make the house livable.” As an 1890s homestead outside Marshalltown, Myers said the barns were stable but there were holes that needed patched and new windows installed. There was hay still in the barn from decades ago that had to be dragged out. “It took me two years to clean the main barn, which was a horse barn and a dairy barn. It is huge,” Myers said. “The second barn, which is identical to this one only smaller, was for cattle. There’s an old hog
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KATHY MYERS turned this 1890s barn into the home for her business, Kathy’s Barn, where she hosts monthly sales from May through October by appointment only. When the Myers first purchased the barn, there were some holes that needed patched and windows to be installed.
MARSHALL house out back, too.” As an avid junker and recycler, Myers used to list her items for sale on eBay. But once she laid eyes on the barn, she knew it would become the future home of her business. In fact, she aptly named it Kathy’s Barn. Myers hosts monthly sales May through October at the barn, which are attended by appointment. She uses both barns to display her finds and the hog shed as a bargain barn. “Before this, I never really picked up bigger items, just smaller items. I told my husband I wanted to make the barn my store and he told me to go right ahead,” Myers said. “It took awhile to scrape out all the poop and hay, to clear the cobwebs, and fix the things that needed fixed, but it was worth it. I’ve done really well here.” She officially opened Kathy’s Barn
See MARSHALL, Page 66C
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Johnson barn’s transformation leaves a beauty By DOUG CLOUGH Farm News writer
SUTHERLAND — Located at 6610 460th St., a mile north of Sutherland, the majestic Johnson barn is on the northeast corner of the intersection of O’Brien County roads M12 and B53. The 2,000-square-foot barn was built in 1920 for John Adams, a dairy farmer. “My wife Jenny and I bought this acreage site in 2007,” said Darin Johnson. “When we bought it, there was an old farmhouse and several outbuildings, including hog and chicken houses. “I got to looking at the old barn and thought it was kind of neat. The architecture is cool. Most of these old barns get pushed in a hole or burned down. I thought we should try to save this old barn.” Johnson reached out to the Iowa Barn Foundation for advocacy and financial assistance; in exchange, Johnson keeps his barn open for the
O'BRIEN Foundation barn tour one weekend each fall. “Various financial institutions took ownership of the farm at times, which — as a banker — I find historically interesting,” said Johnson. “Like a lot of farms, it went to the bank during the 1930s depression. The Streufert family purchased the acreage in the 1940s, and it was their homestead for several generations; the owner that I purchased it from was a thirdgeneration Streufert. The Streuferts owned this farmstead as a working farm. “Our intention was to only build a house. We certainly didn’t have any intention to do anything with a barn, but here we are!” The barn has had a fresh coat of paint with white trim, but the building’s twin cupolas and horse
weather vanes are original. “By the time we acquired it,” said Johnson, “most of the working parts of the barn had been taken out. The stanchions had been removed, but you can see where the dairy cattle rubbed up against the posts because of the wear-pattern.” When built, arched rafters had to be hoisted in place with pulleys and horsepower. This allowed for access to the loft without support poles. “Back in the day, according to some of the old timers in town, the barn was originally painted a battleship gray,” said Johnson, “You can see that from the interior. A lot of the siding was worn to the point of needing to be stripped off and resided. The first step, of course, was to put on a steel roof; before that, you could see daylight all throughout the roof. It was time to either tear it down or put a lot of effort to get it where it is today.”
See O'BRIEN, Page 45C
-Submitted photo
THIS IS HOW THE BARN looks today after effort put in by the Johnsons. “We were fortunate that the original cupolas and the horse weather vanes with globes were still intact,” said Johnson.
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Lorch Mennonite barn has distinctive overhang By DOUG CLOUGH
OSCEOLA
Farm News writer
MAY CITY — Coming from Dickinson County from the east on A34, it’s impossible to miss the first barn on the right in Osceola County. It’s big, it’s unusually built, and the placard facing the highway shows a horse and buggy with “Mennonite BARN Est. 1889.” David and Jane Lorch own the barn with the unique overhanging side. The Mennonites designed and used the barn before leaving the area in the early 1900s, having originally settled in the 1880s. It’s speculated that the overhang was important for livestock to seek shade and for wagons to be easily unloaded of hay and other grains into the barn doors in that area. The barn has been in the Lorch family for more than 90 years and was constructed by a Mennonite settlement in 1889;
“We enjoy preserving the historical integrity of the barn.” DAVID LORCH Osceola barn owner
the Mennonites constructed their buildings with beams and wooden pegs, which are numerous throughout the barn. “We enjoy preserving the historical integrity of the barn,” said David Lorch. Their preservation efforts have included a bright red coat of paint, cedar shingle replacement,
and structural improvements as necessary. The barn has been primarily a historical site since 1960, when it was last used in livestock production. Lorch’s grandfather owned the barn before him. As the oldest grandchild, Lorch — who lived just a half-mile down the road — was called to help his grandfather with various jobs, including milking from time to time. “My grandfather bought that farm in the late 1930s,” said Lorch. “My mother and father farmed there after my grandfather passed away and there was livestock then. The inside of the barn is still in good condition. The feed bunks and the stanchions are still in the building but not in place. Hay was stored above the livestock and there were grain bins
See OSCEOLA, Page 66C
-Farm News photo by Doug Clough
THE LORCH MENNONITE BARN has been in the Lorch family for more than 90 years and was constructed by a Mennonite settlement in 1889; the Mennonites constructed their buildings with beams and wooden pegs, which are numerous throughout the barn.
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O'Brien Continued from Page 42C Johnson wanted to replace the original wood shakes on the roof but found it cost prohibitive. “We were fortunate that the original cupolas and the horse weather vanes with globes were still intact,” said Johnson. “The Streufert who sold us the acreage said his grandfather would never let him shoot pigeons for fear of damaging the cupolas; that’s good for us, because we have bullet-free cupolas.” Johnson had the items sandblasted and repainted. He admits that there are not a lot of people around anymore who would choose to save an old barn. “It was such a striking fixture right there on the corner of two country roads,” said Johnson. “It was a local landmark, and it was a labor of love to preserve that heritage, to keep the barn. Unless you’re raising 4-H cattle or storing hay, a barn doesn’t carry any practical use today. “For us, it was about continuing a legacy and preserving heritage. Even though the rest of the acreage is modern, the barn connects us to the land’s past. This is our homage to the Iowa farm.”
-Submitted photo
COUNTRY LAKE LODGE is now a special event venue for weddings and other gatherings. Here the barn is decorated for a wedding reception. -Submitted photo
WHEN DARIN AND JENNY JOHNSON purchased their farmstead in 2007, this is how their barn looked at that time. “I got to looking at the old barn, and thought it was kind of neat," said Johnson. "The architecture is cool. Most of these old barns get pushed in a hole or burned down. I thought we should try to save this old barn.”
Crawford Continued from Page 18C 1967 to 2002. “I used the barn for various things, including a sick pen for the cattle.” Today, Bergstadt’s neighbor Dan Grill uses the barn part of the year for his cattle operation. A handful of barn cats also live in the well-maintained barn, which has always been red and has long provided a source of inspiration for local newspaper photographers and amateur artists. “It’s a well-built barn,” Bergstadt said.
-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
DENNIS AND MARLENE BERGSTADT stand inside their Crawford County barn.
Dallas Continued from Page 19C when you arrive here, you feel like you’re driving into Ledges State Park,” Kasischke said. “We have a lighted parking lot, two acres of wildflowers with paths, a beautiful fire pit area with a half pergola and swings, yard games out back and plenty of photo opportunities.” Country Lane Lodge holds up to 400 people, has a state-of-the-art audio-visual system and an open vendor policy that helps Kasischke and her team to help clients pick the vendors that fit their vision and budget. “We are one of few venues that will always have a backup plan, too,” she said. “If you want an outdoor wedding but Mother Nature has other plans, you can move it inside. That way families don’t have to worry or figure out what to do on their own.” The event venue offers mature landscaping, perfect for photographs, while the bridal suite has a salon station and the
“I wanted casual elegance. I want it to where bankers and insurance company employees are comfortable coming here along with special events.” KENDRA KASISCHKE Owner, Country Lake Lodge groom’s suite has a poker table. The most memorable part of the barn is the large crystal chandeliers, each with 998 crystals. “I wanted casual elegance. I want it to where bankers and insurance company employees are comfortable coming here along with special events,” Kasischke said.
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Honoring ‘Dad’s barn’ in Palo Alto County By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
RUTHVEN — It’s rare when a family today knows plenty of details about the history of their barn, but the Wigdahl family is an exception. Diane (Wigdahl) Stribe, of Webster City, carefully documented this Palo Alto County history for the Iowa Barn Foundation.
-Submitted photos
ABOVE: The WIgdahl barn in Palo Alto County was built in 1936. Red clay tile was used along the bottom at the suggestion of a carpenter "to make the barn more durable," said Diane (Wigdahl) Stribe.
PALO ALTO The Wigdahl family’s barn embodies a dream that started when Stribe’s grandfather Leonard Wigdahl was a teenager. The second of 10 children born to Rev. L.O. Wigdahl and his wife, Anna, Leonard quit school in 10th grade so he could farm. After homesteading in Montana for a few years, he married his wife, Nettie Knutsen, and settled on the “Wigdahl Farm” that Rev. Wigdahl (who established Zion Lutheran Church in Ruthven) had purchased. The young couple took over the payments, but then came the Great Depression. “About this time, my grandpa’s brother-in-law John Osterhus heard about another 160-acre farm in Silver Lake Township coming up for sale. He offered to loan Leonard $2,000 as a down payment. Their bid of $6,000 was the highest bid. With the help of a Federal Land Bank loan of $4,000, they had a new start.” While there was a barn on this farm, it wasn’t much. “It was kind of a shell of a building, quickly and cheaply built,” Stribe said. “My grandparents moved that building about 200 feet and turned it into a cattle shed.” Leonard Wigdahl began planning to build a sturdy, new barn. Measuring 34 feet wide by 64 feet long, the barn began to take shape in July 1936.
LEFT: Alden Wigdahl and his wife, Elsie, stand in front of their Ruthven-area barn in this undated photo. BELOW: The arched rafters of the barn can be seen in the haymow. All of the sawing for the barn was done with hand tools.
“They hand dug a trench all the way around for a footing, and all the sawing was done with hand tools,” Stribe said. The main carpenter, Carl Behrensen, received 50 cents an hour, while his four workers received 35 cents an hour. “At the carpenters’ suggestion, my family put red clay tile along the bottom to make the barn more durable,” Stribe said. Stribe’s father, Alden, was 15 years old at the time. “He ran errands for the construction crew and was fascinated by the barn’s progress,” Stribe said. “I’m sure he dreamed about the day when he would start farming full-time.”
The barn crew used gravel, sacks of cement and a cement mixer with a gasoline-powered engine during construction. It took about 10 scoops of gravel and two scoops of cement and water to make the concrete, which was transported to the barn site in wheelbarrows, Stribe said. Alden estimated that the barn cost about $4,000, because lumber was much less expensive back then, Stribe noted. [The total cost of the barn in 1936 equates to more than $88,500 in today’s dollars.] After the barn was complete, with room for horses on the north side and dairy cows on the south side, the Wigdahl family milked
dairy cows there. “Grandpa’s brothers Sam and Carl owned the Wigdahl Brothers Hardware stores in Ruthven and Emmetsburg, and they helped design a system for milking my grandpa’s 10 cows,” Stribe noted. “They would send their customers out to watch the milking process in the evening, and often then they would sell one of their Surge milking machines.” When Alden was in charge of the farm, he raised hogs in the barn. “I sometimes kept my dad company on cold winter nights out in the barn as he farrowed pigs,” Stribe said. “I remember the sound of the contented sows with their pigs lined up at the milk bar, and I remember the sound of the radio, which Dad contended made for more calm sows.” The haymow was a magical
place for the four Wigdahl kids (Diane, Barb, Susie and Jeff). “The west end held hay, and the east end held straw for bedding,” Stribe said. “My sister and I would play house up there in the summer. We would follow the mama cat up and would find her kittens safely tucked back in a hole in the bales. I can still hear the pigeons cooing up on the hay track.” In recent years, the W i g d a h l family worked with the Iowa Barn Foundation and a Minnesota-based contractor known as The Barn Doctor to help restore the barn. “My parents, Alden and Elsie, loved this farm so much, and they made it such a wonderful place for us to call home,” Stribe said. “The barn is the symbol of all they loved about this way of life they chose.”
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Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
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‘Harvest star’: Blackburn barn quilt draws the eye By DOUG CLOUGH
PLYMOUTH
Farm News writer
PIERSON — Byron Blackburn bought his Plymouth County farm in 1908. “My grandfather built all the outbuildings,” said Byron Blackburn III, current owner of this southeast Plymouth County farm. “The hog house was built in 1908, and the corn crib was built in 1914. There was a barn here when he bought the land, but he tore it down and used it to build another outbuilding. The barn that’s here today was built by him in 1912.” Blackburn’s barn is easy to see from county road L21 before turning onto the gravel road that leads to his farmstead; his wife Bev and he have their three children Mark, DeeAnn, and Ellen and their grandchildren to thank for their high visibility. “In July of 2008, we were gone on a trip to Colorado to celebrate our farm being in the family for a century,” said Blackburn. “Unbeknownst to us, our children with their children, had our ‘Harvest Star’ barn quilt made for the barn while we were gone. When we returned, they were all here.” The Rural Electric Cooperative, as part of the Plymouth County Barn Quilt Program, had it hung perfectly on the front of the barn. “It was very exciting,” said Bev Blackburn. “All our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren painted a part of the quilt. Some of our grandchildren were very little at the time.” One of the requirements of the barn quilt project was that the quilt had to be seen from a hard-surface road. There’s evidence of stalls in the barn for four work horses. “I can barely remember my dad using those horses,” said Blackburn, who was born in 1941. “It was right after World War II when the horses were no longer used. In 1947, we used the horses to plant corn for the last time. I remember getting
-Farm News photos by Doug Clough
BYRON BLACKBURN II stands outside of his farmstead barn. His barn is easily recognizable from a distance due to the “Harvest Star” barn quilt gifted to him and his wife Bev from their children Mark, DeeAnn, and Ellen and their children. LEFT: These stanchions are the last of the evidence that Milking Shorthorns were once part of the Blackburn farm.
a tongue to go on my dad’s two-row corn planter to go on his 1935 McCormickFarmall tractor. That was big news on the farm!” There was a pen for hogs in the barn, as well as a milking parlor with stanchions for
up to eight milk cows; there was also a pen for the calves to be in while the cows were being milked. The Blackburns favored Milking Shorthorns. Two bins are present next to the calving pens for ground feed. The overhead
haymow, with rafters designed so no support was needed down the middle, still houses hay where the grandchildren now hook up Christmas lights. “The haymow was designed so hay could be pitched into feed bunks in the lean-to for hay to feed the cows,” said Blackburn who went to school in neighboring Pierson. “It was my job as a kid to run the tractor on the hay rope to put hay in the haymow. I also gathered eggs from the hens every night.” In 1956, as a high school freshman, Blackburn made hog panels for his father’s barn. “It got so dry that year that pastures turned to dust,” said Blackburn. “Dad was afraid the wells were going to run dry, so he sold all the cows and only bought feeder cattle up until his retirement.” 1959 was the last year that Blackburn’s father had milk cows. “We had room for eight, but I don’t remember any more than four at a time,” said Blackburn. “I wasn’t a great milker. I was too slow, maybe on purpose. My dad always had a radio in the barn. He loved music, and he had the radio on to Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. Whiteman would come on with a Gershwin tune, ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ and I fell in love with that song. Every time I hear that song, it brings me back into the barn.” When Byron Blackburn II retired in 1978 — turning over the reigns to Byron Blackburn III — the livestock part of the operation had dwindled to a few hogs. “Since that time, I’ve been a grain farmer primarily,” said Blackburn. “We’ve raised some oats, but mostly corn and beans. The barn is still a centerpiece of the farm though, the only changes being the addition of steel and the magnificent barn quilt.”
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Pocahontas Co. barns once part of county farm By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY
POCAHONTAS
Farm News writer
POCAHONTAS — The two large barns on Kay Kordik’s Grant Township acreage west of Pocahontas have a history quite unlike most barns. These structures were once part of Pocahontas County’s county farm, which dates back to the early 1890s. “The whole farm was under Pocahontas County’s authority until I bought the acreage with the barns in 2005,” said Kay Kordik, who previously lived on a farm across the road with her late husband, Robert Sr. “I joke that I live in Pocahontas County on the home for the poor and insane, and I’m the only one here!” Sometimes called “poor farms,” county farms were common throughout Iowa for decades, starting in the midto late 1800s. These working farms, complete with barns, livestock, farmland and living quarters, provided a catch-all facility for indigent and dependent members of the community whose care ultimately became the responsibility of the local county government. As early as 1884, the Pocahontas County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to buy a county farm of not less than 160 acres at a cost not to exceed $2,000, within four miles of Pocahontas. Progress on this plan stalled out until 1889, when three local men were appointed to a committee to select a suitable farm. Based on the men’s recommendation, Pocahontas County purchased 262 acres
of land in Section 4 of Grant Township in May 1890 for a total of $2,850, according to the 1904 book, “A Pioneer History of Pocahontas County.” Thomas Dean, a contractor and builder, constructed the house, barn and other outbuildings on the farm west of Pocahontas. “It was rented that year to Charles J. Carlson of Center Township, upon the condition that he should pay a rent of $240 a year for the farm and take proper care of all persons sent to the farm by the board, at the rate of $2.40 a week,” according to the history book. The book also noted that Pocahontas County built a two-story, 60-foot-by-32foot asylum with 41 rooms on the county farm in 1898 for $4,500. Through the years, the county farm had various tenants and caretakers. Today, the house and the asylum are gone, replaced by the ranch-style home where Kordik lives. The property also has two barns, including a west barn (which was likely built around 1890 to house horses), and a spacious east barn designed for dairy cows. Undated documentation (possibly circa 1940) in Kordik’s archives lists the specifications that Pocahontas County
-Farm News photos by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
ABOVE: The barn with the three cupolas is the east barn on this Grant Township acreage. The specifications for this barn called for Richards-Wilcox hardware for the sliding doors and Klauer or Louden cupolas with a metal base. LEFT: This barn with the gable roof is the west barn. FAR LEFT: Decorations adorn the exterior of the east barn.
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Flynn barn was ahead of its time By KRISTIN DANLEY GREINER Farm News writer
URBANDALE — In 1871, Martin Flynn and his wife, Ellen, settled in what eventually became Urbandale. A man ahead of his time, Flynn built a barn with advanced operations for its time.
POLK Today, the Flynn Barn at Living History Farms is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is used as an event venue for wedding receptions, square dances, parties, auctions, fundraiser dinners and more. Exposed mortise-and-tenon beams frame the open expanse above the white oak floor of the barn. A new roof installed in 2022 guarantees shelter from the rain. However, because the barn is not climate-controlled, it is only available from May through October. It seats 160 at tables or 280 with chairs only or standing. Nestled in the 1876 town of Walnut Hill, the barn sits next to the Flynn family’s upper-class Victorian home. Elizabeth Sedrel with Living History Farms said the barn is part of the farm’s historic tour. A recent event held there was a naturalization ceremony where 45 people became U.S. immigrants, ironic as the barn was built by immigrants more than 1.5 centuries ago, she said. “Weddings are very popular here. People can have a ceremony at the church or gazebo and then a reception at the barn,” Sedrel said. “We have had a preschool graduation there, WineFest and other events.” The Flynns used money they made on the railroad to set up their farm. They had horses, cows and hogs housed in the barn. “Mr. Flynn was an early adopter of technology. He didn’t build railroads but rather prepped the railroad beds for laying tracks. He got a reputation for being the guy who would take on the steep
-Submitted photos
ABOVE: The Flynn Barn, located at Living History Farms, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places LEFT: This undated photo shows the Flynn Barn in its early years.
grades and blast tunnels through mountains. He’d take on the tough jobs,” Sedrel said. “So when he established the farm, he embraced what was then new technology. The Flynn Mansion had coal-fired heat and indoor plumbing, which was highly unusual for 1870 in this part of the country.”
The west entrance to the barn features big double doors that lead to the main level where the haymow and corn cribs would’ve been. The east entrance with big double doors is one level below and where the livestock stalls were located. A wagon could’ve been driven
into the upper or main level where feed was stored or onto the lower level where the livestock were. There were chutes from the main level to the lower level, too. “He was building a split level 100 years before the style took hold in houses,” Sedrel said. The Flynn Barn and Flynn Mansion are the only two buildings original to the site at Living History Farms. Other buildings were moved there. The Flynns sold the farm to the state of Iowa in the early 20th century and it became what was called an honor farm, similar to a workrelease. “Basically, prison inmates could live and work there,” Sedrel explained. “They lined up cots and inmates slept in the mansion.”
When Living History Farms renovated the barn and completed periodic updates and upgrades, such as repainting the exterior, they had to follow guidelines mapped out by the Registry of course, but also tried hard to match the original color of the barn. “It had been painted stark white at one point. We were going down and finding original layers of paint. Historical records showed that it was painted the color ‘drab.’ That was its official name. It’s a warm shade of a peachy color,” Sedrel said. “The brick home has trim similar to the barn, too. When we put on a new roof, we had to use material that was carefully crafted to look like it was from the period.”
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Goats thrive in Sac County barn
By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY Farm News writer
LYTTON — While some barns are mainly used for storage, one Sac County barn southwest of Lytton continues to teem with livestock, from goats to barn cats.
SAC “There are endless possibilities when you have a barn,” said Darleen Degner, who lives on the farm with her husband, Jeff. “It works for big and little projects, from 4-H animals to our goats.” Darleen Degner owns Goodness from the Goats, which recently moved into a shop on Main Street in downtown Sac City. The Degner family’s herd of goats provides the raw materials for the goat milk soaps, lotions and other bath-and-body products that she makes. Like many small businesses, Goodness from the Goats grew from humble beginnings. In August 2014, Darleen Degner (a newlywed) was looking for a unique birthday present for her husband, who likes animals. She ended up getting him Snowball and Snickers, two doelings (young, female goats). One thing led to the next, and the Degner’s herd expanded to 60 goats. While the goats have a variety of genetics, including Boer, Oberhasli and Alpine, Darleen Degner jokes that their main breed is “mutt.” The couple started selling some of their goats to families who wanted 4-H projects or pets. The Degners also decided it might be worthwhile to harvest goat milk. “I was told it’s really easy to make goat milk soap,” said Darleen Degner, who is also a quilting enthusiast. “Turns out it’s not that simple.” She bought a book written by AnneMarie Faiola (a.k.a. “The Soap Queen”) that includes about a dozen basic soap-making recipes. She tried many of them, fine-tuned
-Farm News photos by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
THE DEGNER BARN in Sac County is currently home to a wide variety of goats (left) and several barn cats. The barn has seen many upgrades through the years, including a lean-to on the southeast side.
her own recipe and began marketing her products around 2015-2016. While the business is fairly new, the family’s barn is not. The Degners don’t know exactly when it was built. “It’s an old beam-and-peg barn,” said Darleen Degner, who noted that the farmhouse was likely
built around 1910 or 1915. Bill and Fran Lawson lived on the Coon Valley Township farm for a number of years, into the 1980s. “This was one of the farms that F.W. Miller owned in Sac County,” noted Jeff Degner, whose older brother Dennis moved to the farm in the spring of 1988. “F.W. Miller had the barn’s electrical system rewired around the time my brother moved there.” (F. Wendell Miller, an attorney and farm manager from Rockwell City, died in March 1995 at age 97. In addition to his home in Rockwell City, Miller’s estate included 31
farms totaling nearly 7,200 acres in Calhoun, Sac and Webster counties, along with stocks, bonds, cash and other assets, according to Iowa State University, which received part of the income from Miller’s trust.) Dennis Degner raised sheep and lambs in the Sac County barn. He later added concrete walls in the barn when he finished hogs there. “He’d custom feed 250 head of hogs in three rooms on the west and three rooms on the east,” said Jeff Degner, whose family purchased the property in 1992. The barn has been updated in various ways through the years. Darleen Degner’s older brother, Bill Entz, built a wide, wooden staircase in the center of the barn around 2015. “This makes it a ‘Cadillac of barns,’ since it’s so easy to access the haymow and throw down bales,” she said. Barn cats love running up and down the staircase in the barn, which includes goat kidding pens on the main floor. Walls near this part of the barn are decorated with a variety of old, yellow highway signs denoting T-intersections and more, thanks to Jeff Degner’s job with Sac County’s secondary roads department. Some of the metal signs also provide extra stability on areas where the haymow floor is worn. The haymow also contains some gymnastics equipment, which Jeff Degner’s daughter Emma used when she was growing up. “The equipment came from Buena Vista University when they were getting rid of their gymnastics gear,” he said. “It took a payloader to get that stuff in the haymow.” The Degners continue to upgrade their barn. They built a lean-to on the southeast side of the barn about seven years ago. They’ve also been adding red steel siding to the exterior of the barn, which remains a hub for Goodness from the Goats. “I’m surprised and grateful by how steadily this business has grown,” Darleen Degner said.
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Santa’s Christmas Barn to debut in 2024 By DOUG CLOUGH Farm News writer
GRANVILLE — Albeit not a typical farm family, Allan and Mandy Dessel are proud owners of a 4,000-square-foot Sioux County barn. Featured in the Farm News August edition as a rodeo-clown who is a top-notch tax-accountant on the side, Allan’s new additional title is Christmas barn comanager along with his wife of 14 years.
SIOUX “We are making an event center, but our big goal is to make it a Christmas barn,” said Dessel, who added that the holiday barn will be open for the 2024 holiday season. The Dessels have four children: Gracie, 13; Stran, 10; Trig, 7; and Charlie, 1. “In 2015, our family went to Santa Village in Oklahoma City,” said Dessel. “There were so many people involved, giving the gift of Christmas spirit and good will. Ever since that time, we’ve talked about doing something similar, but we never had a place. A few years later, we left a pumpkin patch in Lawton, and Mandy said, ‘We need to get this Christmas village done.’ “Mandy new about the Granville barn being for sale, so we made a call to the owner in October of 2022 and closed on the purchase in December that same year. We have been Christmas barn owners ever since.” Previously, the barn was used as a homedecor retail shop. The Granville barn was moved to its current location in 2008 for retail business and was sided with sheet metal. “It has all the features of a nostalgic old barn,” said Dessel, “and it was designed originally to house horses and cattle. There was a full hayloft prior to its retail history.” Revisions include a new foundation, a fireplace, a rear addition, and the hayloft being modified to one of two loft levels. “We have a great palette to work with,” said Dessel. “The fireplace has Christmas charm, the building is insulated, heating and plumbing are in place, we have an area that used to be a kitchenette, and the upstairs loft will work great for Santa. There’s also a basement for storage.” Children’s activities will be on the second floor, including a place to write letters to Santa, make wooden toys, do maintenance on a sleigh, accessorize a snowman, and enjoy hot chocolate and cookies. Santa will be on the third-floor loft for children to visit, and each child will receive a gift from the days of yesteryear. “We bought the barn to fulfill our dreams
of creating a Christmas village,” said Dessel. “However, we may create an addition to the front for those who would like to get married here; we’d make it an event center in addition to the Christmas barn. We’d keep the same roof pitch, just make the barn longer. We would have an outdoor wedding area that would double as an ice rink during the Christmas season.” For the time being, the Dessels are focusing exclusively on development of their Christmas barn, with Mandy as planner and Allan as one-man labor. “There will be a live nativity, reindeer, Santa Claus with a photo booth. We’ll have cookies and milk while they write letters to Santa,” Dessel said. “There’s a good stand of pine trees around the barn that we will decorate as well as the barn itself. We’ll have horse and carriage rides and as much Christmas spirit as our two acres will hold!” The Dessels are looking forward to opening Santa’s Christmas Barn in 2024, the Friday after Thanksgiving with regular hours through Christmas Eve.
-Farm News photos by Doug Clough
ABOVE: The Dessel’s Christmas barn is located just outside of Granville in Sioux County. Before obtaining the barn, it had been used as a retail decor store and before that as a foundation for a farmstead. The Dessels are trying to track down the history of the barn during its farmfunctional days. LEFT: Mandy Dessel, left, and husband Allan pose in the hayloft of the barn they purchased in December of 2022. “We’ve had this on our mind since going to a Santa Village in Oklahoma with our kids a handful of years ago,” said Allan. “This barn really does the trick for our vision. Barns have such a nostalgic feel, and we want to bring that to our Christmas village for families to experience.”
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A couple’s vision comes to fruition in 1850 Homestead
By KRISTIN DANLEY GREINER Farm News writer
CAMBRIDGE — When Margaret Nelson, the last family member in her lineage to own their century farm in Story County, looked around for someone she trusted to buy her land, she settled on a former schoolmate and his wife.
STORY That couple, Larry and Kay Thompson, knew that the 1875 barn stood out on the 1850s farm and would be the perfect event venue with some tender loving care. They reached out to daughter Michelle Riesberg and her husband, held a pizza dinner party so everyone could meet, and the next thing they knew, they were making plans to create 1850 Homestead. The Thompsons purchased the property from Nelson, one of the great-greatgranddaughters of Ole Apland, who immigrated to the United States with a church group from Norway. Apland hired Jens Russell, a local carpenter, to construct the “largest and finest barn in the township” on the highest point on the farm in 1875. “I’m blessed to live in the farmhouse, which was built in 1865. My dad and his wife bought the farm, which included the barn, and my husband and I are the managers. Then in three to five years, we will buy my dad out. He’s the first person to own the farm outside of the original family,” Riesberg said. “Margaret and my dad went to school together and she messaged him that she was ready to sell it, but she didn’t want to sell it to just anyone. They’d always had a vision for it, but it wouldn’t be on their plate to make it happen.” Reisberg and her husband, Bill, owned a junk/antique shop in Boone that they sold
-Submitted photo
THE 1850 HOMESTEAD, a barn turned into an event center, has three levels. Cattle were on the lowest level, which is now a groom's suite; the main area had horses, which now functions as the serving area; and the hayloft, which is now a bridal suite.
so they could focus on showering love and attention on the barn as it went through a rehab project. “We closed our brick and mortar in Boone and then we opened up the 1850 Homestead. We own seven acres of tillable land around our farm that’s in a corn and bean rotation. The farmhouse and barn are nestled on four acres,” Riesberg said. “We plan to take two of those acres and make it into a prairie grass and wildflower area with a trail and additional overflow parking for photos. We’ll put a few fun vintage things out there. I love old vintage bicycles and put them wherever I can.” The barn has three levels with the original cattle stanchions still in the basement. Cattle were on the lowest level, then the main area had horses, which now functions as the serving area of the event barn.
“There also used to be chickens and sheep in there. The hayloft was on the third floor that’s now the bridal suite. The main level also is our banquet hall. The lower level is our groom’s suite,” Riesberg said. “It took us 11 months with anywhere from 10 to 17 people working every day to get the barn ready. We have one of the best renovations because we took a beautiful big red barn and took it back to white, its original color. We reframed everything on the outside of the barn, put spray foam insulation around the barn and the roof, then went with metal siding and a metal roof because it allows us to keep everything inside original from 1865. That was important to us, to salvage the history on the inside.” The lowest level that harbors the groom’s suite is rock and cement with stone walls. The main level of the barn retained the
original flooring in the serving area. There are original beams where the horses would’ve been fed, which they chewed on, that were left in place. “We hand-sanded all the floors and polyurethaned by hand ourselves. We just love the original beams and the wood inside that’s original,” Reisberg said. “The bridal suite has a private bathroom and a vintage bicycle is used for the vanity seat. In the groom’s suite is an old Templeton Rye whiskey barrel for the sink.” 1850 Homestead has a capacity of 150 people. Most of the guests marvel at the large Viking ship that came from a Norwegian buffet-style restaurant called The Fjord that used to be in Huxley; it closed in 1987. “The Viking buffet boat is very large. We plan to keep it outside as a photo op that reflects the Norway lineage of many in the area and a piece that people really love,” Reisberg said. “Our large crystal chandelier that hangs from the rafters in the main room also is a showstopper.” Although 1850 Homestead hosts many weddings and receptions, the barn venue also has been the site for birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, graduations, award ceremonies and business meetings, including a fraternity party. Friday Night on the Farm is a special event held there twice a month with live local bands, food trucks and an open bar. “We’re on the preferred vendor list at Iowa State and hopefully will have other ISU events here. Since we’re open yearround, we have heating and cooling and can host events any time. We have six heaters and six air conditioners in the barn. No bride wants to sweat, so they have their own heat and AC in the bridal suite and the groom’s suite, which also has a big pool table, dart board and more for them to hang out while waiting for the ceremony,” Reisberg said. “We also have the option of an outdoor ceremony, weather permitting.”
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Barn is centerpiece of Webster County farm By LORI BERGLUND Farm News writer
The view from the front porch at Frank and Belinda Green’s home could have been painted by Grant Wood. Serene, full of color and life, a slice of Iowa farm life at its most picturesque. The couple is immensely proud of their 1947 block barn, but it’s really the entire farmstead that shines at this rural Fort Dodge home. Situated on a gravel road in southeast Webster County, the couple often explains that they may have a Fort Dodge address, but they are actually much closer to all of the little towns around this farm. Dayton and Harcourt are quite nearby. “I grew up three miles south of here,” said Frank Green. “I’ve been on this place since 1993. I bought it that year.” Belinda, who grew up in Manson, is right at home on the farm after 12 years of marriage. She loves to decorate and has even put her own touches on much of the exterior spaces of the farmstead. “It was built by the Helms family in 1947 and they raised dairy cattle,” Belinda Green said. “For us, the barn is home for horses and cats and chickens — and whatever else comes along. But it’s mainly for our riding horses and chickens.” Having grown up so close by, Frank Green remembers the barn and farmstead well from his youth. “As a kid in school in the 1970s, I remember that there were Charolais cattle up here,” he said. “And then, sometime in the 1970s, I’m not sure when, but all the cattle were gone and they pulled out the fences.”
WEBSTER Declining cattle numbers were a common thing in Iowa in the 1970s, especially on small farms. With cattle no longer gleaning the fields after each harvest, there was no need for fences, and many farmers expanded the actual crop area as much as possible. But Frank Green is a cowboy at heart, with a love for horses and animals in general. When he purchased the farm, he started putting back much of what had been lost. “I put the fences back in around the place,” he noted. “There were only about three ash trees, and now I have to take all of them down. We planted all the trees out there to the north. We added trees around the barn and the circle drive; two crimson maples.” The place did come with a few evergreens, but the December derecho a few years ago heavily damaged some of those. With fresh trees and new fences, the farm began to look a little more like what it might have looked like when the barn was built just two years after the end of World War II. At that time, the intended purpose for the hollow block barn was to serve as a dairy barn, according to Frank. “Because of the stanchions inside I knew that it was originally a dairy barn,” Frank Green said. He removed the stanchions and refitted the barn to make it a good home for the couple’s saddle horses and bucking stud. The barn is a working barn, not just something to make a farm look like a farm.
-Farm News photo by Lori Berglund
FRANK AND BELINDA GREEN stand in front of their 1947 block barn in southeast Webster County.
“We use it every day,” Frank Green said. “We’ve got a stud back in the loafing area. When he’s not in the pasture, he’s in the barn. We have about 55 bucking horses. The horses we ride we keep up here.” The couple are active in the Dayton Wranglers Saddle Club and can be found at the rodeo grounds often throughout the year. “We run the Match the Bronc
series, and we have practices for kids,” he said. Frank Green also enjoys roping and, with a friend, keeps some horned cattle at another farm. “I learned roping mostly by trial and error,” he said, adding that learning with his friend was also a big help. Back at their own barn, with so many nooks and crannies in the
typical barn, the chickens have their own space. Unfortunately, a predator found them one night this summer and cleaned out much of the flock. But next spring the couple plans to fill the area with chicks once again. In his 30 years of owning the farm, Frank Green has now replaced the barn’s roof twice. “When I got here, it was time to either put a new roof on it, or bulldoze it down,” he said. “It was in really good shape, but it still had the original shingles on it and there was water getting in.” He put new shingles on it shortly after purchasing the farm. “The shingles had a 20-year life a few years ago, and when that ran out, we put a new metal roof on it. I don’t think we’ll ever have to do anything with that barn roof again,” he said with satisfaction. Some of the wooden doors have also been replaced and painted, but the original brown blocks of the barn are still serving their purpose to protect the animals that call this barn home. As for the rest of the farmstead, it’s a naturally inviting place with all the special touches Belinda has added over the years. A cattle trough turned upside down on the comfortable porch is a great place to set a drink and watch the evening roll in. Most of her touches are farm finds — some with a little help from friends. “My friends know I like to decorate, so they sometimes find treasure for me,” she said. As for Frank and Belinda, it’s clear that this well-kept farmstead is the treasure they share and means so much to them.
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Carroll Continued from Page 8C
Osceola Continued from Page 43C
feet from the haymow floor to the peak of the barn. To make the interior more inviting, Ryan Klocke reconfigured windows on the south side of the barn. He also installed a large, square window topped with a decorative, half-circle window where the hayloft door had been on the north side of the barn. Plenty of daylight helps illuminate the converted haymow, which features a knotty pine interior ceiling. About a year passed from the time the Klockes decided to transform their barn until they moved in during the summer of 2022. “We get a lot of compliments on the barn,” Heidi Klocke said. After the couple tore down their old farmhouse in the summer of 2023, some people didn’t realize the Klockes (including the couple’s sons Blake, 9; Mack, 7; and Hank, 4) had moved into the barn. “They thought we were living in a camper or with my parents,” Heidi Klocke said. The Klockes are enjoying their barn house and plan to add a deck on the south side. If they eventually build a new home, the barn will make a great party barn, Ryan Klocke said. “This is a classic, red, Iowa barn, and we’re proud it’s the focal point of this acreage.”
up above as well.” Two small rooms on the south side were used to store grain, and each has a chute that leads to feed bunks below. Milking was done on the lowest level, and the same area housed hogs and cattle. Online historical records show that the Mennonites are named after Dutch religious reformer Menno Simons. The Mennonites believe in the separation of church and state. The church holds two sacraments, baptism in adulthood and communion. The first Mennonite colony in America was formed in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1683; the May City colony came from Pennsylvania, then went to Ontario, Canada, and then on rail to Osceola County. At that time, land acres were purchased at $8 to $16 per acre. By 1915, there was discord among the May City Mennonites surrounding the use of electric lighting, gas engines, and telephones, and the sect broke up, with some members returning to Canada and others to their roots in Pennsylvania. In 2015, the Mennonites returned to Osceola County.
-Farm News photos by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
ABOVE: The Klockes’ barn takes the concept of an open floor plan with vaulted ceilings to a whole new level. The space measures 20 feet from the haymow floor to the peak of the barn. LEFT: The lower level of the barn home includes a utility area and additional space that can be converted into more living space or a bedroom.
Marshall Continued from Page 41C
Pocahontas Continued from Page 50C defined for the construction of the east barn, from Richards-Wilcox hardware for the sliding doors to Klauer or Louden cupolas with a metal base. “All framing lumber, including sills, plates, studs, girts, joists, rafters, braces and ties shall be No. 1 fir,” added the document. “Ship-lap for floor shall be No. 2 white pine or its equal. Poles shall be cedar. Roof sheathing shall be 1x6 boards.” The barns were daily centers of activity on the county farm for decades. Some residents at the county farm (whose occupancy reached 30 residents one winter during World War II) helped local farmers occasionally. “My husband, Robert Sr., and I used
to hire two men from the county farm to help bale hay and shell corn,” said Kordik, who has lived in Pocahontas County more than 70 years. The Pocahontas County Board of Supervisors closed the county home in 1968 (back when the farm contained 335 acres of land) and auctioned off the farm equipment and livestock on Sept. 19, 1968. Francis and Linda Madsen moved to the farm around 1969-1970 and lived there until about 2005. “The barns were in good shape when we moved here,” said Francis Madsen of Pocahontas, who noted that Pocahontas County installed red steel siding on the barns while he and Linda lived on the
“Our barn is where they had their biggest event for the homecoming,” said Lorch. “They had a catered meal and met other Mennonites who were related to them from the time their forefathers were in this area. “What’s fascinating is that all of them wanted to know where their grandpa or great-grandpa lived since family is so important to them. In most cases, the building sites aren’t there anymore. A few of them asked if I’d ride with them and help them to pick out some of these locations. With some of the people, I could remember when there were buildings there in the 1970s; their greatgrandparents would have lived there in the early 1900s. They had a lot of questions, and they were very interesting to talk with; they seemed to have a connection with the land and an appreciation for it.” Lorch has the barn listed with the Iowa Barn Foundation. “People walk through and talk about the barn with us,” said Lorch. “There’s always interesting conversation.”
farm. “I had 15 hog crates in the east barn and farrowed hogs in there. I used the west barn to finish the hogs, plus I raised some cattle in that barn.” Today, the barns on Kordik’s acreage provide extra storage and a home for 10 barn cats. “Barns and fences are two things that used to be common that you don’t see much anymore,” said Kordik, who noted that Pocahontas County still owns the former county farm’s farmland. “The farm will have a new tenant next year who will pay cash rent for a term of four years. This is supposed to help a young farmer get started in farming.”
on their farm in 2008 and thrived even during the global pandemic. She could open up the doors for fresh air and limit how many people were inside when social distancing was required. “It’s a labor of love getting the barns ready, and sometimes I want to scream, but I love it. I travel all over the place to find items to sell,” Myers said. “One time I came across a family selling the farm that had tons of stuff. I found a very, very old scale that was 5-by-
5 feet enclosed in a wooden box. You would’ve pulled the scale out and weighed the crop on it. I called the company and they said it was from 1937. That’s one of the cooler things I’ve picked up.” Another time, Myers found an oak cabinet that she ultimately sold for $1,200. She doesn’t put a lot of finishing touches on furniture and similar items because a lot of customers are looking for blank slates they can finish themselves, she said.
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Belfrage barn stands sturdy through the years By DOUG CLOUGH Farm News writer
SERGEANT BLUFF — The 1909 Belfrage barn is a big one for sure; when owner Winston came back to the Belfrage Farmstead Historic District in 1991, the haymow was full to the ceiling.
WOODBURY At the entrance of the dairy barn, a sign prominently reads, “Please do not smoke in this barn,” in the handwriting of a forefather. With all that hay up top, the mantra seems more than fair. Hay tracks still run at the top of the haymow, evidence of a day when livestock other than chickens ruled this roost. “We were on the All-State Barn Tour this year,” said Belfrage. “My wife Eileen and I enjoy hearing older farmers reminiscing about how farming used to be — it was labor intensive for sure.” The Belfrage barn is a grand old wooden structure originally completed to be a dairy barn. “We do our best to keep our barn in good shape,” said Belfrage. “We raise layers in here, but that’s all now. We have a lot of artifacts here and there which remind us of days of high activity.” Stalls for milking and feeding cows are still prominent. Side panels open for fresh air for the livestock on days when the weather cooperates. A ladder goes up to the haymow where there are chutes to drop the hay to the cattle below; a staircase was added after Winston’s brother fell in
-Farm News photos by Doug Clough
ABOVE: Winston Belfrage's great-grandfather John bought his farmland upon his return from the Civil War in 1875. The Civil War veteran’s son Wilfred — Winston’s grandfather — continued to farm the land and built the Belfrage barn in 1909. LEFT: Winston Belfrage feeds layers in his 1909 barn built by Aaron Gunderson. The dairy barn once had cows on one side and horses on the other; hogs were kept at the back of the barn.
the 1960s, injuring himself. Milk cans are found in the old dairy room. A roughly hewn tree is a support beam in the room where a horse-drawn carriage used to be parked. An oat chute sends the goods to where the horses were once found in a stable. Winston’s great-grandfather John bought this farmland upon his return from the Civil War in 1875. The Civil War veteran’s son Wilfred — Winston’s grandfather — continued to farm the land and built the Belfrage barn in 1909. Wilfred’s estate was settled in 1969, and after 94 years of Belfrage ownership, the land, the home, and the Belfrage barn were in the hands of someone without the Civil War-era Belfrage family name. Winston Belfrage and his wife Eileen brought the historic farmstead back to life by coming home in 1991. “I wanted to save the home and the barn,” said Belfrage. “I spent the first 13 years of my life here. We hated to see it sold when my grandfather died in 1969, but it happened. We’re back now.” An Iowa Barn Foundation grant helped Winston and Eileen pay for a new roof and paint. “We replaced the windows and a set of doors,” said Belfrage, “but the rest of the barn is in its original state. Mainly cows and horses were in the barn, but there were some hogs in the back.” Hay bales haven’t been stored in the haymow for years, but hay hooks still exist as evidence of a time when the hay reached the ceiling, and the hired men were warned not to light up in the big old barn. Aaron Gunderson is noted as the builder of the barn.
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Farm News/Fort Dodge, Iowa
Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
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Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
Farm News/Fort Dodge, Iowa
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Wright Co. barn beloved since 1948 By CLAYTON RYE Farm News writer
ROWAN — “I put a lot of hay in that barn.” That was Jim Avery’s first response when talking about the barn that was owned by his grandparents, Dillard and Luelda Tudor. Avery believes that after World War II, farmers had a lot of money because during the war, buying anything would not be patriotic. In 1948, Dillard Tudor had this 40-by-36-foot barn built as a dairy barn, and Avery believes it came with an unusual feature — a premade roof. The Tudors, who were married in 1929, had a daughter, Annie, who married Robert Avery, and they are Jim’s parents. When Robert Avery returned from the Korean War, he was asked if he wanted to farm. He did, buying a piece of ground just one mile northwest of the Tudors, which is where Jim Avery grew up. The Tudors milked six to eight cows and raised Angus beef cattle. Their Angus cattle became popular with 4-H kids. Jim Avery recalls there were always a lot of geese and other fowl around the barn. Putting up hay was a family event. Avery’s mother Annie drove the baler, with his dad, Robert, on the hay rack. Avery said his grandmother Luelda drove a pickup that was attached to the rope used to lift the hay into the haymow. Because his parents were out in the hay field, Luelda would take care of Jim and his brother by giving them coloring books
WRIGHT and crayons as they rode with their grandmother back and forth in the pickup. Avery said there were 12 dumps of hay on a flat rack. At the end of the day, the haying crew would enjoy cold meat sandwiches and soft drinks. The acreage was sold off from the farm in 1996 to area residents Clark and Doris Trager, who were looking to move to an acreage. In 1997, the Tragers moved in and kept a wide variety of animals in the barn. Clark Trager said there were seven head of sheep for a couple years, four-horned goats, Angora goats, chickens, a horse, mules, donkeys and three pigs, which presumably fell from a truck and that their daughter found on the road. The donkeys have been in the barn for the last 10 years, including both standard and miniature-sized donkeys. Currently, three donkeys are kept in the barn. “We’ve never had a cow in the barn,” said Clark Trager. The Tragers have left the barn in the same condition as when they arrived, with new shingles put on in 2019. Trager said his wife Doris keeps the barn weather tight. “She’s out there with a caulk gun when she sees a leak,” said Trager.
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-Farm News photos by Clayton Rye
ABOVE: Clark and Doris Trager have used the barn for many different kinds of animals since moving onto the acreage in 1997. LEFT: The main floor of the barn remains much like how it was originally built, with the stanchions still in place.
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Farm News/Fort Dodge, Iowa
Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
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Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
Farm News/Fort Dodge, Iowa
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