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SLAYTON FARMS ROUND BARN
Iowa Falls Historic Preservation Commission - June 2000
The Slayton Farms Round Barn was built in 1915 by
the Slayton family. It's believed to be one of 16 hollow-clay tile
barns to be built by the Johnson Brothers Clay Works. According to group
historian Marcia Hovinga , farmers used the barn until the early 1960s.
She said round barns were built starting in the late 1800s because they
were a symbol of wealth and more efficient. However, the same design
that made them so popular eventually rendered them obsolete by the 1950s
because it was impossible for tractors and other farm implements to move
inside.
A Local theater group has pulled out of restoration attempt of barn and the
owners Bob and Diane Shaner have requested the Hardin County Historic
Preservation Commission and the Iowa Falls Historic Preservation Commission
lease the building and start grant writing for restoring the barn. The plans
call for returning the barn to a working dairy configuration and educating
the youth of the area about how milk, cream and butter were obtained when
this barn was in operation. The hay mow area will be made into a museum space
and exhibits will be of early farming and hopefully include examples of
smaller, early gas engines.
The barn now been listed in the National Register of Historic Places(NRHP)
and has also just made the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance
most endangered NRHP property listing for 2000.
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