WEATHERED OLD HOME IN FALL

Yesterday was sunny - - in the sixties as I headed out in my old Toyota Tacoma to experience the rural pleasures of this beautiful fall day. About fifteen minutes from my home I found this lovely weathered home sitting silently on a large piece of farmland. Was it vacant? Or was it occupied? I never found out. 

Above is a wire fence that ran along a long dirt road up to the house. Dried rust colored Queen Anne's Lace traveled along it. A small outbuilding was visible from the dirt road. 

I used Light-room to soften these two photos as I felt it produced my feelings for the day.

OLD RED ROUND BARN ALONG AN OREGON RURAL ROAD

Partial view on the east side of the round barn

Along Route 36 near the settlements of Triangle Lake and Blachly, Oregon is a huge red round barn. Its construction is wood with a metal conical roof, a cupola with ventilator and lots of windows for interior light. Roof needs serious work. I would guess it was once used for cattle or horses? Now it appears to be sitting empty waiting for its next adventure. Some small buildings have been attached to the barn. Passing the barn on the roadway one is likely to slow down taking in the magnificence of its size and wondering about its grandeur when it was younger.

This old red round barn sits on a country corner of farm land. I know nothing about who owns it or when it was built. If I were to guess a date I would say it was built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. 

The photos you see above and below were taken on two different days. The one above was the first one I took and the two below were taken a few weeks afterwards. The light was exceptional for my first one and the last two suffered a bit from weird natural light. I used the same camera so it wasn't the camera that captured them differently rather it was me the photographer. 

South view of the round barn

Above is an old wooden sign leaning against some of the fence posts south of the barn. The sign's significance is unknown. Visually its artistry captures the rural presence of the place.

Since taking the barn photos I have since found out there are still many old round barns remaining in Oregon.  Click here to view Dale Travis' list on Oregon Round Barns -- once you reach the page list, click on a highlighted number to view a photo

Do you have a round barn in your area?

ADDENDUM I:
A comment on this post from Darcy made me go searching for more info on this barn. Found this old photo from the 1900s within the Oregon State Archives OAG445.  Titled -- Octagonal milk house near Triangle Lake in Lane County Oregon. 

So according to this bit of history it was a dairy barn and octagonal although it looked round from the street where I was taking photos.

ADDENDUM II;
RE:  Wooden Sign photo in this post (above)
Commentator Darcy (see above) sent a Eugene Register newspaper article dated 1993 that describes a pheasant business that began on the 350 acre round/octagonal barn land in 1991. The pheasants were raised in the barn and released for hunting in the field surrounding the barn. Some pheasants were kept to sell to non-hunters. The article states that the owner, Chris Mooney, kept a steady supply of 1,200 barn raised pheasants.  Chris Mooney felt the barn was built in the early 1940s.

GRANGE HALLS AND RURAL COMMUNITY

FERNWOOD GRANGE ENTRANCE

Grange halls have existed in rural areas of our nation since the mid-1800s. Their growth was attributed to community activities associated with farmland living -- serving as a meeting house of sorts for country folks. It was a time of real family farms not corporate farms, 

They played a large role in our historic agricultural community. However the grange buildings have been slowly disappearing as land is being bought up for housing developments, malls, and commercial structures. 

I always look for the old grange buildings that usually sit forlornly on our former rural lands. As family farms have been exiting these areas, now one might find a grange sitting next to many commercial buildings or new subdivisions -- deteriorating ever so slowly.  So many have disappeared from our landscapes. At one time the above Fernwood Grange was among six granges in the Newberg area of Oregon. Today Fernwood Grange is the last remaining of the original six -- the result of city encroachment. 

Grange buildings are dying off as our culture changes.

For more info on granges across the nation click here 

RURAL RUSTICS - HOOD RIVER AREA, OREGON

Mellow yellow is painted on these old vertical boards of this vintage tin roofed barn. Located near Hood River, Oregon upon one of the many farms that grow hundreds and hundreds of fruit trees for commercial use and also a place where you find many commercial vineyards. A lovely rural area. It still has a rustic feel to its landscapes and has a very low population of us humans.

An abandoned side-of-the-road building -- use unknown -- added some flavor as I passed through this area. What was its original use? 

Haven't you passed these remnants when you are out in the countryside and wondered about their former life?

KENTUCKY RURAL PORCHES

MADISON COUNTY 

GARRARD COUNTY

GARRARD COUNTY

RIDE RURAL ROCKCASTLE COUNTY

Take a ride with me through Rockcastle County, Kentucky. I'll drive my small Tacoma truck but many folks bike it for its beauty. It's very scenic and full of cultural history. 

Rusticated Metal Barn Roof

1819 House With Stacked Limestone Chimney

Original Construction is Log. Presently Weatherboard Covering

Mt. Vernon, Commercial Building With Quilt Square

Early Country Home, Possibly Log Construction Underneath Present Siding

Old barns - Still Active

Old Davis Branch Schoolhouse

Not Active - Privately Owned

MISS FAYE'S SITTIN' PORCH

MISS FAYE'S  'SITTIN" PORCH WITH MULTI--PURPOSE USE.
A BIT OF ROCKING CHAIR CONVERSATION, A FEW WASHABLES SET TO DRYING,
AND A SWING FOR RELAXING.

MISS FAYE
ROCKCASTLE COUNTY, KENTUCKY 

RURAL CHURCH LADY

She ran a church rummage sale. 
Where I bought some old clay planters. 
We talked about her gardens.
 She gave me some hens and chicks plants. 

Martha

Her age is 84

Madison County, Kentucky 

FUNKY RURAL MAILBOX

Noticed this funky old mailbox along a road in Madison County, Kentucky. I thought it looked as if it had been homemade. The owner must be one that receives an abundance of mail as it was twice the size of a breadbox. Does anyone still remember the size of a breadbox?

It stood on a post that perhaps was a piece of old farm equipment? Together, mailbox and post, did present a unique mailbox.

I think I even saw a bullet hole in the side of the box. Target practice for the "bad boys." Why do some folks have to try and ruin something so full of meaning to the owner?

ABANDONED PHOTO ART

PLEASE NOTE: This is my first attempt at creating a YouTube video. I cheated a bit as my dot.com son helped me every step of the way. I'm learning a lot from him lately. I do appreciate his sharing of some of the knowledge that he has. So here is the results of my attempt -- it was a fun and complex experience as usual --  meaning every new step I learn with computers is challenging.

LIVING IN RURAL VASTNESS

RURAL LANDSCAPE -- KIRKSVILLE AREA, KENTUCKY

SECOND STORY RURAL BARN DOOR

OLD BARN
SILVERED WOOD CONTRASTS WITH BARN RED SECOND STORY DOOR
ROCKCASTLE COUNTY

DAVIS BRANCH ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE

DAVIS BRANCH ONE ROOM SCHOOL HOUSE

This past weekend my son and I rode the back-roads toward a place called Climax to stock up on some fresh spring water. It was a gorgeous sunny day in the 70s. We filled many gallon containers and then decided to take a ride looking  for some disappearing fragments of the area's culture.  


One thing we wanted to do was to stop and check out an old one room schoolhouse we had noticed previously.  We were in luck as the owner of the schoolhouse was available to fill us in on some of the background of the old building.
.

MIKE HEIMS -- NOW OWNER AND FORMER STUDENT OF THE DAVIS BRANCH ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE  IN THE BACKGROUND

Mike Heims is the owner of the Davis Branch Schoolhouse. He represents its past as he was a student there from the first grade through the eighth grade. He has a store of memories related to the school.. 

Mike has lived in his family home, about fifty yards from the original site of Davis Branch School, for most of his life. Attending school and farming with his dad filled much of his early life. In his adult life he has worked in the building trades and continues still  at age 68. 

SCHOOLHOUSE ENTRANCE

They closed the school 53 years ago. A new larger school was built a few miles away that took in the surrounding students that attended one-room schoolhouses. Thus Davis Branch was closed two years after he left it. 

Eventually the school and property were auctioned off  with the winning bid going to Mike. He paid about four hundred dollars for it. He bought it for its memories and the fact that it sat right next to his family's farm.. .  

POTBELLY  STOVE

Mike shared several stories about the school with us. Here is one of them.


The school was heated by a coal burning potbelly stove which  still resides in its original place. Older boys, during certain school days, gathered tree twigs in the nearby woods for kindling.  The teacher hired Mike to start up the stove before she and the students arrived in the morning. She paid him a nickel a day for his services. A load of coal sat behind the schoolhouse -- close to where the two outhouses were -- one for the girls and one for the boys. 

OLD METAL ROOF MEETS SIDE WEATHER-BOARDING

The metal roof is in fairly good shape. 

SCHOOLHOUSE WITH ROCK PILINGS

Mike admits that the schoolhouse's structure is struggling. He won't sell  --  it has too many memories for him. It is all original -- wood weather- board siding and metal roof. The windows are original -- the bottom sash was opened to let the cooler air drift inside to cool off the students during warm days.. 

RECTANGULAR FORM WITH ROCK PILINGS FOUNDATION.
STAIRS TO FRONT DOOR ARE CUT LIMESTONE SLABS. 

Overall the schoolhouse has a gable sided entrance. There is only one door to the interior, six windows for light -- three on each adjacent side, all within a beautiful country setting.

The school sits like an elderly gentleman gracefully adding its own history to the landscape. 

1800s FOLK KENTUCKY LOG CABIN -- PULASKI COUNTY

OLD ROCKERS IN THE 1800s PULASKI LOG CABIN WINDOW

I spotted this log cabin on a rural piece of property in Rockcastle County last weekend. The owner of the cabin was just pulling away and I was able to speak with him for a few minutes before he had to be on his way. 

He gave me permission to take photos of the place and told me that he and his son have been in the process of rebuilding it for the past ten years. They had taken the old log home apart in Somerset County and moved it piece by piece to its present location in Rockcastle County.   When it arrived in Rockcastle they began the slow process of putting it back together. They plan to make it a livable place again.

SOUTHWEST VIEW OF LOG CABIN
FRONT FACADE HAS MIDDLE DOOR 

I  was delighted to be able to examine the cabin up close. Its planked logs were full of history. It was built in the latter 1800s. Its construction was a story-and-a-half single-pen home with a recently added new partial loft over the  interior room (pen). The roof appeared new also. . The word pen designates a log dwelling unit consisting of four walls, notched at the corner, generally forming one room. Usually one room pens are referred to as cabins. 

HALF-DOVETAIL ON 20' PLANKED LOG
ADZE MARKS ALONG LOG-- SOUTH SIDE

Usually, I have a tape measure in my field bag but had forgotten to pack it. So I did the next best thing -- I used my feet to step it off. I found it to be about twenty feet square. That makes the planked logs twenty feet long. The close-up photo above shows a half-dovetail notch and adze marks all along the planked board. An adze is a hand cutting tool with an arching blade used to shape logs.

NE CORNER OF HALF-DOVETAILED  NOTCHING --DOOR IN BACK SIDE

According to Terry G. Jordan author of  Texas Log Buildings: A Folk Architecture, a foremost expert on log architecture, the half-dovetail notching probably evolved from the Pennsylvania full-dovetail notching giving us a hint of where the original builder might be from. 

There are several different forms of folk log architecture. Examples are smokehouses, barns, crib barns, churches, cabins, and more. This particular log had white oak construction which was a prevalent wood used in early Kentucky structures. 

Its like a puzzle -- dissecting the forms of older houses. Some exhibit one period while others have additions from later periods making it more puzzling to the observer.

RURAL DAY OF 58 DEGREES AND SUNSHINE

At last the sun is shining here in Central Kentucky and the temptures rose to an unbeliable 58 degree Fahrenheit. When I was growing up in Michigan we would call this the January thaw.


Spent the day outside and took a few photos. One is the old barn above with its vote for Holt for sheriff. No I don't know Holt. Notice the clear blue sky -- haven't seen one for weeks.

A perfect ending to the lovely day was this wonderful sunset seen from my front porch. I hope you are having a good weekend wherever you are.

OLD BARN -- OLD DOG

OLD DOG -- OLD BARN

I met up with this old dog on a large tract of vacant land. I was told he belonged to the caretaker of the property. We bonded and he politely showed me the highlights -- crooked trees, tall seedy weeds, rock boulders, tons of fallen leaves, secret passages in the ground, tiny water holes and an old unused barn. He was the master of this domain. It was an absolutely beautiful tour and I thanked him as I left with a few pats on the back and some soothing soft words.

MARGARET'S HILLSIDE ROOT CELLAR -- BUILT 1971

FRONT VIEW OF MARGARET'S OLD ROOT CELLAR
MADISON COUNTY, KENTUCKY

Margaret's husband built the above concrete block root cellar in 1971 -- thirty-nine years ago when she was thirty-seven. Today, Margaret is seventy six and  no longer uses it. 


Our recent chat revealed that they once had a very large garden where they grew a wide variety of vegetables. She canned huge amounts of the harvest. One year she canned about 500 quarts of green beans. She gave lots of her vegetables away. Now she only grows a small patch of tomatoes as her husband helper passed a few years ago.


Some root cellars are inside houses, usually the basement. My mother had one in our basement that she called her fruit cellar. Maybe it is just a matter of semantics whether one calls the cellar -- fruit or root?

Most root cellars in the U.S. are built into sides of  hills. The idea of root cellars was born in 17th century Europe and traveled to the U.S. They became a traditional part of rural living. They are not used in great abundance anymore but still can be found in some country areas.

SIDE VIEW OF MARGARET'S HILLSIDE ROOT CELLAR

This particular cellar was built by Margaret's husband of cement block. He lined the walls with shelves to store the glass jars of canned goods. The floor space was saved to spread out  potatoes. It was kept chock full. 


The cooling and insulating properties of the surrounding ground preserve the freshness of the fruit and vegetables. 

CLOSE UP VIEW OF UPPER FRONT DOOR AND CEMENT BLOCK ROOF

The temperature of these outside root cellars remain slightly above freezing during the winter which slows down spoilage. Produce stored in indoor cellars, usually the basement type,  do not have the same storing qualities as the outdoor cellars. 


A wide variety of food could be stored in Margaret's cellar if she desired -- cured meats, milk, cheese, dried foods, canned food, fruit and vegetables. 

GHEEN, MINNESOTA, FARMER PUTTING DIRT ON ROOT CELLAR ROOF
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LEE RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHER 1937

Here are a few Farm Security Administration photos of root cellars in the western part of the country. Photos were taken by the photographer Russell Lee who worked for the FSA during the depression years. 

I have captioned my post's last three photos with information known about each one. These pictures represent the "hey day," of root cellars.

HOMINY THOMPSON IN DOOR OF THE ROOT CELLAR HE BUILT
SHERIDAN, MONTANA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LEE RUSSELL, PHOTOGRAPHER 1937

Root cellars appear to have had their peak periods during the 1800s through about 1950. Modern refrigeration put an end to the popularity of building such structures. That is except Margaret's husband who built his in 1971. Recently, with the back to land movement, there has been renewed interest in root cellars.

For a good discussion site on root cellars click here on nativestones.

OLD ROOT CELLAR ON FARM NEAR NERTHOME, MINNESOTA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LEE RUSSELL, PHOTOGRAPHER, 1937

APPALACHIAN ADVERTISING BARN

KINGSTON ADVERTISING BARN - SIDE 1

Going... going ...  almost gone. That is the condition of a barn in the rural  Kingston community of  Madison County, Kentucky. With this decline one realizes the loss of a historic vernacular advertising barn.


Most folks are familiar with the Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco ads that are painted on barns, mostly found across the eastern part of the country. However, old barn ads cover a wide spectrum of products. In the case of the Kingston barn (above photo) we see an ad for Standard Motor Oil. 


Barn advertising was very popular during the period of 1900 to 1940. Companies paid barn painters to adorn ads on barns while the barn owners were paid a small stipend each  year. The advertising company was responsible to keep the ad freshly painted.  

KINSTONG ADVERTISING BARN - SIDE 2

This particular barn in Kingston has two sides painted. Each side has presentation to the flow of traffic in a particular direction. In the photo above one can see that the second painted side has most of its paint worn off and only the word GAS can be made out. 


It is difficult to date when this ad was painted on the Kingston barn. One local I talked with said he could remember the ad being on the barn since he was a boy about 45 years ago. Of course he also mentioned that it could have been there longer than 45 years. 


Today such painted barns can be considered historic landmarks. Some have been federally listed as National Historic Landmarks. Many are in decline or have been demolished. Efforts to save these artful treasures could bring community pride to rural areas. 


SOURCES:


Advertising Barns by William Simmonds


Rock City Barns by David Jenkins


Mail Pouch  Tobacco Barns,  Wikipedia