Latest News
Announcing the Annual Ohio Barn Conference XIII
Posted January 17th 2012Please join us April 27th and 28th, 2012 in Summit County at the Clarion Inn & Conference Center located at 240 E Hines Hill Rd, Hudson, OH 44236 (phone # 330-653-9191) for the Annual Ohio Barn Conference and Bus Tour. Public Welcome.
This year Friends of Ohio Barns is working in collaboration with the National Barn Alliance to bring you another entertaining and informative conference and barn tour! Summit County is home to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Cuyahoga Countryside Conservancy Program. This year we will be touring some of the barns in the conservancy as well as learning about the program from the Incorporator and Executive Director himself, Darwin Kelsey. This program was started back in 1999 as a way to rehabilitate old farms and put them back to work under the guidance of the Conservancy. It has been a very successful program on many levels and Mr. Kelsey will have a lot to say on the subject. We also have a panel of farmers from the program, including Alan Halko, Daniel Greenfield and David Wingenfeld, to talk about their experiences and how they fit into the Conservancy Program.
We are excited to have the chance to collaborate with the National Barn Alliance and Charles Leik. Charles has been president of the NBA since 1997 and has helped effect many advancements through their organization to aid in fulfilling their mission statement which states "The NBA provides national leadership for the preservation of America's historic barns and their rural heritage". Charles and his group have been very busy recently in Buffalo where they were an active player in the National Trust's Buffalo 2011 Conference with their Affinity Lunch and participation in an Inner City Buffalo School raising. Charles will be speaking on the subject of the future of America's barns and will be available to discuss the National Barn Alliance programs and their accomplishments.
Our Keynote Speaker will be Scott Carlson, timber framer, woodworker, and craftsman extraordinaire. Although Scott would say, "I'm just a simple carpenter" you will find that is not the case after seeing some of his work. If you are so inclined check out his website at www.sweetgrassjoinery.com for more information. Scott graduated from the University of Montana as a forester, which has immensely helped him in the woods to find just the right trees to craft his cruck frames. We are thrilled to be able to have him take us on a journey from "Tree to Frame" on Saturday at the conference.
History buffs will thoroughly enjoy David Snider from Somerset, Ohio. His topic for the conference is titled Agricultural Juggernaut: "The Jeffersonian Agrarian Vision meets the best damned farm ground on God’s footstool". His bio as written by David: "David is from a long line of barn builders, lumbermen and Ohio pioneers. He is a graduate of Hocking College and Ohio University and works as a modern agricultural structure designer/builder. He is a past president and trustee of the Perry County Historical Society and an unreconstructed devotee of early Ohio History." A must see presentation.
Of course the conference would not be complete without the Barn Detectives, Rudy Christian and Larry Sulzer. They will be available on Friday's tour to point out unusual joinery and well as present their findings at the conference on Saturday. The annual member meeting will be conducted during the lunch break and the silent auction will be ongoing all day as well as other exhibits, demonstrations and vendor presentations.
Keep checking back for more information.
Check out the Barns on this Year's Tour
Posted January 22nd 2011
Small cluster of canal village buildings, the center has a great display of canal history with murals, artifacts, tools and a partial canal boat showing the timber framing that made them.
Darwin Kelsey, Conversancy Director, is re-adapting an English Ground barn into the "corporate headquarters" for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park system that will showcase what he hopes to be an urban agricultural education center. The barn itself has some interesting framing and several examples of repairs to the frame that are noteworthy and could be suggestions for other barn owners to emulate.
The highlight of this year's tour, this 1886, 3-storey multiple trussed barn is like no other! It was to be restored to become a conference center, before the funding dried up. It has an interior wood silo, a unique "u-shaped" turn around in the central drive bay, with a granary in the middle. There will be a park spokes person in period costume to speak of the barns history. Because of uncompleted renovations, we will view this structure in small groups.
Mrs. Fay is a member of the Bath Business Association, and Historical Society. The family farm typifies homesteads in this area, and her barn is representative of ground barns here with one little twist. It has been moved and had a basement put underneath it. Of note are the framing differences in the old and new structures.
Interesting 40x80 Gabled Barn circa 1900. Circular sawn materials make up this unique double square wooden interior silos. Originally for storage, this barn is a great example of adaptive re-use. It’s new life functions as a CSA facility with many volunteers helping to raise and sell a variety of produce.
This circa 1905 Gambrel barn is a 40x108 Wisconsin style dairy barn. Mill cut, this frame allegedly was shipped from Tennessee. It too has some interesting joinery, namely some double framed posting in the drive bay walls. Its new life is a weekend farmers market to sell local produce and wares.
Latest Newsletter
Posted December 30th 2011The latest newsletter (Vol X, Issue 4) is now available in the newsletters section!
Barn Post Volume X Issue 3
Posted October 14th 2011Vol X, Issue 3 is now available in the newsletters section.
Newsletter and Barn Tour Insert
Posted June 16th 2011Vol X, Issue 2 is now available in the newsletters section. Additionaly, this issue contains an insert from the 2011 barn tour!
Click the excerpt below to view the insert.
Friends Fall Picnic
Posted June 14th 2011
The Annual Fall Picnic was held on September 24th from noon to 5pm in Somerset, Ohio. The gathering was at the Jacob Miller Tavern on US Rt 22 in the town of Somerset.
The Jacob Miller Tavern is an original log tavern built on the Zane’s Trace in 1808 and served as the boyhood home of Civil War General Phillip Sheridan. Somerset is a German settlement with a classic Pennsylvania diamond square in the downtown with one of Ohio’s very few equestrian statues at its center. The buildings in the downtown area are attached to each other similar to the way they exist in Fredericksburg and Chambersburg in southeastern Pennsylvania where the settlers of Somerset originated.
Tom Johnson, Mayor of Somerset gave our group an update of some of the fascinating urban archaeology projects and the tree ring dating of log and timber frame building surveys underway. He also shared with the group an ongoing effort to preserve open land in and around the village for the development of a park system and an emerald necklace as well as efforts to preserve land adjacent to a nearby Native American earthwork. The nearby Glenford Fort is a 25 acre hilltop enclosure surrounded by a stone wall and encompassing an interior 15 foot high stone mound.
Picnic attendees had an opportunity to walk two blocks from the Jacob Miller Tavern, across Pigsfoot Square to visit the original Perry County Courthouse and County Jail, the oldest continually used government building in the former Northwest Territory. A Lutheran pioneer cemetery & the site of the first Lutheran Synod in Ohio with locally carved stones, some in German, is a half block from the courthouse.
We also arranged a tour of the Poorman barn, a German bank barn with forebay built in 1819. This unique barn has double timber framing throughout, incorporates scribe rule construction along with some dovetail joinery.
Early arrivals visited nearby historic St. Joseph’s church, cemetery and working farm. St. Joseph’s was the first Catholic Church west of the Allegheny’s. A seminary and dormitory, once part of the complex housed many of the clergy buried nearby. A very interesting spot seven to ten minutes from the Somerset square.
The picnic lunch included locally raised meat which was provided by Friends of Ohio Barns.
2011 Board Members
Posted June 14th 2011
Forensic Science Takes a Different Turn in Barns
Posted May 18th 2011Ohio Farmer magazine has a feature article on the Barn Tour component of the recent Ohio Barn Conference XII. A photo slideshow is included!
Forensic Science Takes a Different Turn in Barns
Barn of the Year Winners announced at the Ohio Barn Conference XII
Posted May 18th 2011Another great crop of barn submissions were judged prior to the recent OBC XII and the winners were:
Stewardship Award
Richard Finke from Fairfield Co. He has an 1830's Pennsylvania bank barn rich in local history that Mr Finke protects.
Agricultural Award
Steve & Debbie Miller also from Fairfield Co. They are caretakers of 3 rare double overhang barns on this historic homestead. They are being used for grain and hay storage.
Adaptive Re-Use Award
Robert & Sandra Routzahn from Crawford Co. They dismantled and rebuilt a circa 1900 gambrel barn into a home for the couple. It has a 30x40 clear span space in the main living area with garage and bedroom additions.
Thanks to everyone who entered!
Lifetime Member Matt Carter
Posted May 18th 2011Thanks Matt!
Rudy Christian retires from FOB board
Posted May 18th 2011A founding member and guiding force of this organization, Rudy has decided to step down from the board for Friends. He will continue to be involved in the organization, especially with the barn survey program. We will continue to have him narrate our barn tours too! Happy retirement Rudy (sort of!).
The Friends of Ohio Barns Endowment Fund is Growing!
Posted January 18th 2011But we need more help! Are you interested in donating to a worthy cause and help save Ohio's barns? Friends of Ohio Barns has established an endowment fund to help support the organization's various barn programs. Through the Columbus Foundation, a state wide philanthropic organization, you can donate to the Friend's endowment fund online through the Power Philanthropy arm of the foundation.
The easiest way to find our portrait page and make a secure donation is via Power Philanthropy & The Columbus Foundation. Follow the directions to make a worthwhile donation and feel good about helping our fund grow.
See more details about on our Endowment Fundpage through this website.
Unusual Joinery Detail found in Bellefontaine Barn
Posted November 22nd 2010During the recent JBD workshop in Bellefontaine, Ohio, we came across a pretty interesting joinery detail. It is similar to Jan Lewandoski's description of a tying joint variation in the Timber Framers Guild "Joinery & Design Workbook". Illustrated by Jack Sobon, it describes a bridle joint with necked tie-beam and extended shoulders. The double tenons in the Longbrake-Smith barn, circa 1870's go clear through the scarfed eave plate and stand 4" proud of the plate. It then has approx. 1" pegs that help secure the scarf in its orientation and seemingly prevent outward rotation of the plate by the downward forces of the roof...very unusual!
Friends of Ohio Barns Featured on Our Ohio TV
Posted November 2nd 2010If you haven't seen this video you should check it out. In 2009 June Davis from Think TV filmed a segment about Ohio Barns for Our Ohio TV. She interviewed some of our members for the piece. Review the video here.
Very worth watching!
Pictures from the recent Upper Arlington Sunny 95 Barn Raising
Posted October 27th 201025 hearty souls came to Upper Arlington for the 10 day workshop to restore Arlington's oldest remaining timber frame barn and erect a new doug-fir frame for The Community Foundation of Upper Arlington. It was a fantastic time had by all...one of the highlights being the time we all spent with the elementary school kids next door at Greensview.
The frames went up without a hitch, and the community, and Friends of Ohio Barns has something to be proud of!
2nd JBD Training Workshop was held 6 Nov. 2010 near Bellefontaine
Posted October 8th 2010This training workshop is designed to further educate volunteer barn enthusiasts who are willing to then go out into their own respective Ohio communities and assist owners and stewards of older barns. The objective is to help them understand preservation and maintenance techniques, available resources and use options, and hopefully build a greater appreciation for their particular grand old structure.
If you have any JBD Workshop or Program related questions or comments please visit the JBD Programpage on our site. If you have further questions contact Paul Knobelvia email, or contact us via phone at 330-882-5027 or 330-715-7422. For general FOB related questions we can best be reached at our regular mailing address - Friends of Ohio Barns, P.O. Box 203, Burbank, Oh 44214.
FOB Picnic at Slate Run
Posted August 23rd 2010Friends of Ohio Barns had their picnic at Slate Run Living Historical Farm last fall. This 1880’s farmstead has been restored and is operated by Columbus Metro Parks as a working farm. Farmhands and homemakers are in period dress.
Every farm animal you can think of is found in the barn or around the farmyard. Percheron horses, dairy cows, pigs, sheep, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese and a number of other kinds of fowl make up the extended family on the farm.
The big barn, a granary and the summer kitchen are some of the timber frame structures that stand out among the dozen or so farm buildings. The root cellar is stocked with canned vegetables and the smoke house has several select cuts hanging from the rafters. A blacksmith shop, a broom shop and several tool sheds are loaded with all of the implements of farming in that time period. The windmill towers over the haystack.
The vegetable garden, grape arbor, orchard, corn field and sorghum patch are all showing signs of abundance as harvest time approaches. Onions are drying on racks by the summer kitchen. In spite of the world economy and the global financial crisis, Slate Run demonstrates that life on a productive subsistence farm can be separate and apart from the bigger mess
Slate Run is more than a working historical farm. It is 1700 acres of forests and fields and wetlands rolling over the glacial till plain. Extensive open water areas and the edge between forests and field provide an abundance of wildlife habitat. A spotted fawn grazes along the roadside. Green and great blue, and night herons can be seen stalking along the marshy borders. Footpaths roam over and through the wooded hills that are old glacial deposits.
Other timber frames at the park include the entry to the historic farm which was raised by a workshop of the Timber Framer’s Guild a decade ago and a shelter house recently built by Amish craftsmen. For directions and more information on the park, check out www.friendsofslaterunfarm.org
2010 Lifetime Members
Posted June 17th 2010
This year, three folks of Friends became lifetime members, Brett & Marcia
Urian, Sarah Werling and Jack Shumaker.
Thanks very much for being such great supporters of the organization!
Barn Post, vol. 8 issue 3
Posted February 8th 2010
On the Friday evening of the 2003 Ohio Barn Conference in Chillicothe, some attendees were in town having dinner at the Cross Keys Tavern on Main Street when flames began shooting out of the third-story windows of the historic Carlisle Building across the street. For the next three hours we watched firefighters from Chillicothe and surrounding volunteer departments struggle to keep the building standing. Streams of water were directed from several teams of firefighters into different windows while smoke poured out of others. Pressure from the water hoses knocked stone crosses loose from above the third-floor gabled dormers. The stone crosses tumbled to the sidewalk and broke.
Read More...(pdf)