Thursday, June 30, 2022

Old Barn

 I believe the barn was built in the late 1930's or early 1940s by the Lemon family ( a brother to Far Guys maternal Grandmother (Clara Almeada) lived there his name was Loren Lemon and his wife was Florence Graham Lemon.

My parents purchased the farm in the spring of 1952 when my Dad returned from Korea. 


Me and the barn in about 1953 or 1954.

Ten years later in 1964.

Me, my other baby brother and my baby brother in 1964.

I have taken a number of photos of the barn over the years. 

November 2021...I wondered if the barn would make the winter if there was heavy snow so I took a photo. 

May 14, 2022  It made the winter but began to sag. 

Last week the wind storm that we had finally got the better of the barn.

June 25th 2022. 

Yesterday we watched as the barn came completely down.  The barn held lots of memories for me growing up on the farm. Mostly good memories of hard work.  My earliest memory is loose hay stacked on a wagon ready to go into the hay mow, and of course the Banty Roosters chasing me. 

Far Side


19 comments:

linda m said...

Sad to see it fall down. But you sure have some nice memories.

DJan said...

It's like losing an old friend. Thank you for chronicling the life of the old barn and sharing it.

Alana said...

That barn had a good run, but it also held memories for you. I wonder if any of the lumber will be salvaged by your family or if the people who will haul it away keep it all. Perhaps a memory can be created from some of the lumber, if that is something appealing.

farm buddy said...

I am very sorry to see this. People do not realize that it would be about impossible to build a barn like this again. What a loss. Makes me even more committed to keep my barn in tip-top shape! Mine was built during the time of the civil war.

Cynthia said...

I love the old pictures but I want to cry because it was so beautiful and majestic and now it no more. I bet you did, too! Will someone salvage the old boards?

Sara said...

The old photos are so fascinating, even when I don't know the people. I found a photo in my dad's stuff a few years ago of an old barn, but had no idea where it was or why it was important. Then we went to a family reunion in Kansas about 4 years ago - and one of my cousins had a similar photo. The barn was built by my great-grandfather and his father for a neighbor. It was so fun to learn the story.

Betsy said...

That barn was full of good memories for an entire family. It's so sad to see it no more. Barns like that that are fewer and fewer every year. I remember seeing them everywhere as a child but not many anymore.
I hope some of the wood is able to be salvaged and made into things that will hold onto the memories for all of you. Thanks for sharing some history with us.
Blessings,
Betsy

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Kind of sad to see it fall, but I love that you have this record of it.

Tired Teacher 2 said...

I’ve always been drawn to old farm buildings and have many photos of them through the years. It saddens me to see them succumb to the elements.

Maebeme said...

It's always a shame when an old building is torn down. Thank goodness for memories.

I hope they were able to salvage some of the wood for other projects.

Linda Reeder said...

Yes. Memories. My neighbor's barn was like that, and for a short time loose hay was still loaded in the hay mow with horses pulling the wagon and the lifting fork.

Gemma's person said...

Like watching a family member go downhill . Great pictures to have for keeping.

Red said...

Nice photo history of the old barn.

diane in northern wis said...

WEll that's quite the history of that old barn. I loved seeing all the pictures. It stood through lots of weather and storms and winters and memories. Glad it provided you with some good memories of days gone by.

At Home In New Zealand said...

That is sort of sad to see this grand old building come to an end. It made me wonder if the old small barn I grew up with is still standing. Times change, so I guess it probably isn't.

www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com said...

I hate to see those old buildings and farms fall to ruin. I feel the same about old houses....I love the old stuff.

aurora said...

What a great barn, if only things lasted forever. You've got some good memories (and photos) to savor!

L. D. said...

The people who bought our family farm just never repaired the roof. It then rotted out and collapsed in the middle. The people were not true farmers and let the place go. I guess they didn't have to pay state taxes on it after it collapsed.

Galla Creek said...

Just like old barns, we sometimes out live our usefulness.