In the previous post, we looked at the remains of an early twentieth century farm house. Today we’ll take a look at the role that concrete played on this farm: a barn, stock tank and cistern – all made from it. Bonus feature: a windmill tower made of scrap metal!
The barn has walls of poured concrete which took advantage of the site’s sloping terrain. The in-hill construction, or natural berm, makes it hard to see the now roofless structure.
Remains of the sides of the former gambrel roof lean against the front. The farm house we just toured can be seen in the distance.
Concrete wing walls retain soil at each side of the barn. When the roof was present, it created a hay loft which was accessible from the side (gable end).
Hopper-style windows at grade level brought light into the earth-sheltered interior. Boards serve as shutters to close them; they were not fitted with glass. Since the collapse of the roof, daylight now filters in between the floor joists of the former hay loft. I’m not sure what the little square hole between the windows was for… there is a similar one on the opposite wall. Any ideas?
Poles set into the earth carry the weight of the structure above and serve as anchors for the horse stalls.
Though modest, the stalls express an effort at beautiful design; the builder took a small but delightful step beyond pure utility.
It is evident that the formwork for the concrete was built of 2 x 6s placed horizontally. The wavy line shows the demarcation between the first and second pours of concrete. Another window, but this one is shuttered from the exterior. And another small, square, mystery hole. What is it?!
Now open to the sky, these stalls are deteriorating more rapidly.
A barn door still hangs from its track.
This truss once gave shape to the upper and lower slopes of the gambrel roof.
The barn from a slight distance showing the remains of the roof on the ground behind it.
Nearby, a galvanized stock tank and an earlier stock tank made of concrete rest adjacent to a windmill.
The windmill has received some attention in recent years; its tail was made at some point after 1986.
Surprise! Up close it becomes obvious that the windmill tower was made of old car frames and scrap metal! Someone put a lot of effort into creating this. The uppermost section appears to be manufactured, however.
Looking up!
Nearby, at a slightly higher elevation, a concrete cistern is barely visible above the ground. I wonder how many gallons it once held?
The original stock tank has been re-purposed as a firewood collection receptacle. The imprints of the vertical boards used to create the form for this tank are still visible. It could be re-lined and used again.
That’s it – thanks for coming along! Any insight as to the purpose of the square holes at the top of the barn walls would be greatly appreciated!
Ventilation of some kind? Even in the cold, if there are a lot of large animals, they may have needed a vent out. Hmm. Others will probably have a better idea.
I thought about a vent, too, but the shuttered windows would already allow for that. It’s a mystery that is starting to annoy me! Others will probably have a better idea? The silence is deafening!
altho I like your artistic interpretation of the horse stalls, I think a more likely reason would be to keep the horses from trying to bite each other which is a pretty common problem. our draft horses were separated by a solid wall to prevent that very thing.
maybe the holes had a beam inserted originally for some purpose
Clearly the grilles between the stalls were meant for separation. My point is that it would have been easier to make these grilles either vertical or horizontal; the apparent fanning of the individual pieces is what impressed me – and it is attractive. It was an extra step that was not needed for mere utility.
My first thought about the square holes also involved a beam scenario, but the length of the barn is too great; a small and square beam running the length of the barn would sag. Long beams work best when rectangular and vertical (like joists). Also, the square holes appear to have a type of jamb surrounding them; this would not be needed for a beam which would rest directly on the concrete. I think these holes may have been inlets or outlets of some sort, but am still very much perplexed about them. The fact that these holes are directly opposite each other suggests a direct relationship, but I don’t think it was a beam. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me awake at night.
one might think of some food carrying system for the holes except since the house had no electricity probably the barn didn’t either.
do they go through the wall to the outside?
there must be a “barn blog ” somewhere on the net – find it and ask them.