Re: O.T...Old Barns

Posted by Billy NY on February 17, 2007 at 08:26:10 from (205.188.117.14):

In Reply to: O.T...Old Barns posted by mike a. tenn. on February 17, 2007 at 07:39:31:

You are not alone, many people have an appreciation for these old barns, myself included. I've always thought the same thing, you see so many just let go, it's always sad as the work that went into building them, the people who built them and used them, all have some history.

The problem is they are obsolete, so they become left abandoned, can be hard to insure and or a myriad of other issues, that just get in the way.

If you don't keep a roof on them, and keep them up, nature takes it's toll. Time and money to repair and maintain them becomes low priority, same with the old large victorian homes or old brick and timber buildings.

Our area here was rich with all this kind of architecture and much of it is gone now too. The city was loaded with really ornate buildings, the old breweries and warehouses and railroad structures, if I could go back in time just to see them, the photos are astounding to look at.

We used to have to large hay barns, my neighbor the farmer, used to load the mow with square bales, back when 20,000 bales was the norm, these barns were still valuable for hay storage. Mortise and tenon joint timber framed, we used to drive the Ford 8000 right thru it, was an open type, with the mow on the left, 2nd floor on the right and below was where the cows came in for milking, we later used it for horses. Both barns were within 50 feet of each other, the wind took the oldest one, however the timber framing held up the roof blew off in '74, I saw it as a kid, was a sad day, and the other was torn down by the town after a battle, we got an injuction to stop them, it fell into disrepair, as did the old farm house. The barn should have never been let go, and the house could have been mothballed kept a roof on it and outside kept. The house was just too big, poorly insulated, very costly to heat, parents just let it go unfortunately. It don't take much for them to fall into serious disrepair, and become a huge project to bring em back, but if it were me, I'd have tried to keep them up, the place was the most beautiful in the neighborhood, old trees, the lawn and all the rest, people would stop and look, even had a guy stop in an do a painting of the place. I have to get after my father and find the old polaroids of the place as it was, fun place to grow up as a kid, hence my fascination with the old farms, they are something I've always appreciated too.

The lot is just empty now and I live above it, we still own all the land. The only thing left is the milk house, when I caught some kids that were tossing rocks at it, I almost strung them up on line, to them it was windows to break, to me it was all that's left, there is a photo of me in front of it as a youngster and that can make you a little angry when they can't leave it be. I am going to restore it soon and leave it as a momento of what once was, I have one old photo of the place showing both barns and a wooden silo I never knew existed as a kid, a neighbor was friends with family that owned it before we did, and that milkhouse is there, was in the 30's or 40's, being the last building left of what once was a very large farm, that little milk house is a neat little shack in my book.

Replies:

Add a Reply Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]