The Thomas Stone Barn

~ Click Photos to Enlarge ~

The Thomas Stone Barn was built in 1881.
It is located in the Town of Brigham in Iowa County, Wisconsin.
There are 13 doors on the south side of the barn because
it was originally designed to stable horses.
It was later adapted for cattle and other farm animals.
This farm has been in the same family for almost 150 years!

Meet David "Harold" Thomas and his wife Amy.
They are the third generation of the original owner,
Walter Thomas, who purchased the farm in 1860.

~ Click Photos to Enlarge ~

Harold proudly holds up a picture of his grandfather, Walter, who built the barn in 1881.

Harold, who is 85 by the way, invited me into his home to meet his wife and show me some pictures. 

As a native of WI (you can tell by his hat) Harold really enjoyed funning with me about the big rocks that he said he found on his property.
On the photo to the right, Harold very seriously told me that the rock on the left was the bottom of Big Foot's boot, and that on the left side of his boot, you can see the heel.

He said the other picture is his head, and that you can see where the eye sockets are, and also his tongue sitting in the middle of his open mouth.  He also chided that he had two bumps on top of his head :-)

When I asked him if he was messing with me, he finally smiled.

Big Foot's Boot Print and Skull

Click on the Photo if you Dare

Harold then proudly showed me other photos that he had, which included a certificate that said:

The
David Thomas Stone Barn
in
Town of Brigham, Iowa County
is listed in the
National Register
of
Historic Places
 
 ( David is Harold's Father )
The stone barn has many unique features, which include ventilated windows.  When the blue paint had faded, Harold found a paint chip and took it into a local paint store and had the color matched, then repainted the vents.




The inside of the barn had two rows of cows on each side.  Harold said that they originally started with red Saler cows that he said were imported from Ireland, but bought from a local dealer.  Later they tried another breed of cattle, but he said they peed too much.  He said they peed so much that they had to make a special drain for all their pee to get out of the barn.
 



Generic Photo

Saler cows have been bred for centuries in the Cantel-region of South Central France, an area of mountain country with poor soil and a harsh climate.  Salers are known for being able to provide milk and meat under tough conditions, like cold winters and sometimes hot dry summers.  Female Salers were bred for their abundance of high quality rich milk.


Click on Photo to Enlarge

 The farm was bought in 1860.  As of 2007 it was 147 years old!  By 1900 they had 108 head of cattle (81 of which were steer cattle) and they also had 39 hogs.  It took 2-3 years to erect the rock barn.  The rock came from a quarry just north of the railroad tracks (Harold pointed north of his home and said it was over the hill across the highway).  The rock was hauled down to the site on stone boats (a wooden type of sled pulled by horses or oxen that sits low to the ground on wooden runners to traverse easily across rough terrain).  The rocks were cut on site and hauled by wheel barrel up a ramp from about half way up the light pole.  The women helped along with the men.
 

The barn is 102 feet in length, 40 feet wide, and approximately 58 feet high with a shingled roof.  The walls of the barn are cantilevered (which means they are wider at the bottom and narrower at the top to keep the gravitational force of the wall from falling).  The bottom of the wall is two feet thick, and the top is approximately 17" thick.  The lime kiln was south of the barn and ran day and night to burn the rock to make cement (mortar) for the barn.

How fortunate for future generations that Harold kept records of the barn.  It doesn't seem to matter where you record them, so long as you do (and someone can find them).  Every little detail and story helps identify its past use for future generations to come. 


Click on Photo to Enlarge
 


   

Photo Entitled
" Window of Generations "
 Harold looks out the window of the his grandfather's 1881 stone barn.
 



If walls ( or windows ) could talk.....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
Thank You Harold and Amy for sharing the history of your family farm with me.
I look forward to seeing you this spring when I come for my first tour :-)

~ Kristin Kolkowski ~

March 8, 2008

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