Historic Barns to Take Center Stage
Published: Friday, September 10, 2021
The Indiana Barn Foundation Barn Tour will include 10 Indiana heritage barns and a homestead farm with multiple historic buildings at eight stops in all.
One of the organization's biggest fundraisers of year, the barn tour will take place on Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Allen and DeKalb counties. Tickets for those 17 and over cost $20 and are available by registering at indianabarns.com. Children 16 and under are free when accompanied by an adult.
The event coincides with Gov. Eric Holcomb's proclamation of the first Hoosier Heritage Barn Week, Sept. 20-26.
The tour is a rare opportunity to visit privately owned heritage barns in northeast Indiana. Barn owners and docents will be at each location to educate visitors about the barn's histories and preservation efforts.
The tour will begin at Barn 1, the Acres Land and Trust Dustin Barn in Huntertown. Upon arrival, barn tourists will receive a map for the self-guided driving tour and a commemorative barn tour passport that will be stamped at each location.
The first stop also features a raffle, silent auction and door prizes. The Who Cut the Cheese food truck will be stationed at Barn 5, the Butler Barn, which was built in 1915 and known as the "Rainbow Roof Bank Barn."
Barn 2, the Yoder Farm Barn in Huntertown, features a working kitchen to process garden produce and maple syrup. A bank barn and a hog barn, both built in 1913 with pegged timber frame construction, will be on display at the Schlatter farm in Leo.
Stop No. 4 is also in Leo at the Sidel Barn where a large, German cantilevered bank barn built in 1889 and a small gable-front shed will be open. Howe Scales Co. scales will be on display.
The swing through Auburn will begin at the Butler Barn and end at the Ort Family Barn, which has been well maintained since it was built in 1907.
Barn 7 is that the Simon Homestead where visitors will tour a carriage barn, tractor barn, cantilevered bank barn, hog barn and dairy barn. The Watland Family Bank Barn is No. 8 on the list and was built at the height of the Civil War in 1863.
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