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They have seen the disappearance of the buffalo and the passing of the Indians from the plains of Illinois. They have seen the retirement of the horse and plow and the coming of the tractor. Yet like the buffalo, the Indians and the workhorse, their silhouettes are disappearing from the Illinois prairie skyline.
They are the old wooden barns that your grandparents and great grandparents used to stock hay, house livestock and store farm equipment. Illinois historians have dated some barns along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to the 1820s. Many of these structures were made of logs, similar to cabins, of single- and double-crib design. Some of these early structures were also homes for the families, while they cleared the land and began farming.
As farming evolved, so did the barns, becoming much larger structures now seen along the countryside. There are several types of barns, including the Dutch barn, the New England barn, and the Pennsylvania barn among others. As these structures age and deteriorate, it's much simpler to demolish them and build more modern, metal buildings. However some landowners and historians are working to restore and possibly save these magnificent structures.
One such case is the Parker barn, south of Carrollton in Greene County, just off Route 267. Partners Garry Pregler and David Jeffery are working to restore the structure as close to its original condition as possible. The farm is served by Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative.
The land was settled by the Parker family in the 1830s, and the barn was built prior to 1859, but the exact date is unknown. The home, built after the barn, was used as a stagecoach house on the Springfield to St. Louis route. An adjacent carriage house is also still standing on the property.
The barn was built as a labor saving structure, as carts loaded with grain could back into the basement and unload grain. The present day stalls were originally used as corn cribs, storing crops of corn, oats and other grains. Hay chutes were also built into the structure, making the transfer of bales much easier from the top floor to the bottom. "Our plans are to restore the barn as close to the original as possible but still have functionality for today said Pregler. The eastern arm of the barn's foundation has deteriorated so much, and is not considered salvageable, according to Pregler. The men have kept most of the barn in good shape, however the completion is still some time off.
"It will take a good five years get things done the way we want it to be," said Jeffery.
The two main factors, according to the men, are time and money. As both have jobs off the farm, their time is somewhat limited. And money, as with most farmers, can be sparse, especially for remodeling
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The Parker barn is an example or private owners trying to restore a historical structure. However another barn, the Ryan Round Barn near Kewanee, has its own caretakers and has received aid from the state. It's served by Corn Belt Energy Corporation, on the cooperative's western border with Farmers Mutual Electric Company in Henry County.
The Ryan barn is in Johnson Sauk Trail State Park, seven miles north of Kewanee, and has been restored as closely as possible to its original state. Through the Friends of Johnson Park Foundation, and from help from state agencies, the barn is structurally sound.
Formed in 1984, the Friends of Johnson Park Foundation was started by concerned citizens who heard rumors that the barn was to be torn down. The group felt there was too much history in the structure and fought to save it. When the state learned the group was serious about preserving the structure, it chipped in.
"With the help of Rep. Dick Mautino, and with great assistance from the state, money was provided to re-roof the barn," said Loren Truninger, vice-president of the foundation. The state later came back and laid a new floor in the barn.
The barn was constructed under the planning of a Dr. Ryan around 1908. He purchased the surrounding property as a summer retreat from his Chicago-area home. Dr. Ryan is said to have been a brain surgery specialist, a pioneer in the plastic surgery field and was a native of the Kewanee area. His hobby was raising Black Angus cattle, imported from Scotland, and he needed a barn to house them. With the help of two other men, the doctor began to construct the barn, which, according to Truninger, was an "engineering wonder" for its time. The Foundation has been told it is the country's largest "true" round barn with a silo in the center.
Hay was stored in the upper level of the barn, and when full, held 250 tons. The main floor was used for the storage and maintenance of farm equipment while the lower level housed the cattle.
The ceiling of the barn had a circular track on which a carrier with a fork was attached. As hay wagons
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backed into a main level entrance, the fork would drop, pick up a bale of hay and deliver it via the circular track to its storage place in the upper level. When this was full, extra hay could be stored on the main level.
The main level had two granaries, which delivered grain to the lower level by chutes in the floor. Silage was blown into the silo on this level by a chopper blower powered by a steam engine on the outside.
The lower level is graded so that the facility is self-draining, with liquid wastes running into underground slurry tanks. The ceiling of this level had two tracks, one to help feed the livestock and the other to remove waste. With all of these labor saving devices, one can see how the barn was ahead of its time and why the Foundation wanted to preserve it.
The state has helped in restoring the floor and roof of the round barn, but Truninger says that as the barn is not on the National Registry, there are no federal sources to help in its restoration. Pregler and Jeffery agree. However funding is not impossible to get, according to Ann Swallow, survey and national register coordinator for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
"Many of the programs are geared toward public-owned structures, or an adapted reuse of a building," she said. She went on, citing the turning of an old historic home into a bed and breakfast, using an old railway station as an office building, and other similar operations. "It depends on how you are going to use the structure," she said.
"The most successful ones are distinct, and have a special architecture or historical significance behind them," Swallow said.
A requirement of some funding programs for rehabilitation is being listed on National Register of Historic Places. Swallow equates this process to writing a term paper for college. The process is comprised of four steps. The first is the preliminary staff review. Applicants are required to submit detailed information and photos of the property, showing its significance and structural integrity. This information is reviewed and the Illinois Historic Preservation staff evaluates the materials for a possible recommendation to continue with the process. If an applicant is encouraged to continue, a nomination form along with suggestions on how to complete it is sent to them.
The second step involves completing the nomination form and returning it to the Preservation Agency for review by the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council, which meets quarterly.
In the third step, the council will review the nomination and if it suggests the site for the registry, it moves on to step four, where the nomination is sent to the Keeper of the National Register at the Department of the Interior. This person must act on the nomination within 45 days. Once a site has been placed on the National Register, many new avenues of money are available to sites.
As farmland and space become more valuable, some people are seeing the value in the old buildings and are trying to save them. With a little effort, these places can be restored. And like the buffalo and the locomotive, even the old barns can be preserved so that the children of tomorrow will know the legacy which has gone before them.
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Illinois State Treasurer, Judy Barr Topinka
This is short-term, low-cost loan program for developing or further enhancing tourism-oriented projects including:
The applicant must be a non-profit corporation or organization, a local municipality, county government or other unit of government, or an independent developer, joint venture association or corporation. Historic preservation projects must be listed in the National Register of Historic Places or designated by a Certified Local Government. Minimum loan amounts range from $10,000 -$25,000 to a maximum amount of $2,000,000 - $5,000,000, depending on the type of project
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (LPCI)
LPCI, a statewide advocacy organization, has a small grants program for endangered buildings. Funds can be used to physically stabilize deteriorated buildings, feasibility studies, engineering studies, etc.
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
This grant program funds "brick and mortar" preservation projects for properties listed individually or in historic districts in the National Register of Historic Places or designated by Certified Local Governments. Projects will be funded on a matching basis, with the local share at least 40 percent of the project cost. The new program started July 1, 2000.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois State Museum
This grant program provides operating funds and capital project funding to museums that are operated by or located on land owned by a unit of local government. The museum must be in existence two years, and have professional staff. A minimum; grant of $10,000 is available for operating expenditures and it must be matched locally on a 1:1 basis.
Illinois Department of Commerce &. Community Affairs
This program funds historic projects which are heritage tourism related. The property must be open to the public on a regular basis (at least five days a week.) You must be able to show that the project will result in visitors staying overnight in hotels in Illinois. Projects are funded on a 1: 1 (50/50) matching basis, and the maximum grant is $100,000.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust has a variety of grant programs for non-capital projects, including the Preservation Services Fund which provides funding to non-profit, public agencies, or educational institutions for consultant services, educational programs, or conferences. Loans for capital projects are available through the National Preservation Loan Fund.
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