Left: The loft of the barn, where hay was
stored. Holes in the roof are evident here.
Above, the cupola, part of the venting system.
Below, a full view of the front,complete with silo.
tomato juice, in addition to producing eggs, milk
(30,000 gallons), beef and pork.
As the use of the farm decreased, parcels of
land were sold off. Acreage was sold to build
the old hospital, the Army Reserve, Kinney Shoe
Factory, the Potomac Center, the city sewer and
the state police building. Around the 1950s the
barn fell out of use.
In recent years, there has been interest in
repairing and restoring the barn. A restoration
committee was formed and several years ago
they began repairing fencing and clearing debris
from the land. Documentation is ongoing to
include photos of the damage to the interior and its
contents. Currently there are holes in various areas
of the roof, and damage to some of the wood. The
barn has been used for storage for many years,
but little by little it’s being cleaned out.
Saving the barn has slowed due to the
economy, but according to the current
administration, there may be light at the end
of the tunnel in the near future to re-kindle
the restoration. As one of the schools’ staff
said when the cleaning began, “It’s a work in
progress. We are looking back to preserve the
past while looking at the future.”
Cost to build the
Three-in-One Barn in 1930
Misc. building materials
$4,054.52
Lumber
$2,972.87
Shingles
$ 49.50
Plumbing supplies
$ 56.52
Electrical
$ 102.46
Hardware
$ 939.74
Paint, oil, varnish
$ 601.56
Cement
$1,076.95
Sand, gravel, plaster
$ 115.88
Cut stone
$ 308.73
Brick
$2,027.99
Tile for silo
$ 692.55
Barn equipment
$3,662.80
PHOTOS COURTESY WVSDB by E.A. Letherman III,
agriculture education teacher.
18 West Virginia Farm Bureau News