Thursday, January 10, 2008

Memorable Story: A stubborn old barn

The blog occasionally posts Memorable Stories from either the past or the present.

This one is about this old dairy barn which stood on its stone foundation for more than 120 years and refused to surrender quietly when workmen started bringing it down.

This memorable story from the Times-Reporter in New Philadelphia, OH, even includes a video showing the final collapse of the old structure–but not its final end..

The old dairy barn, believed to have been built in the 1870s, will get a new life in supporting and decorating houses in Colorado, Utah and England. Its frame and siding were constructed from virgin old growth hickory, poplar, beech, maple and oak w
oods, which J&J Barnboard’s Joseph Smyth, who specializes in lumber acquisitions, said are desirable in the wood market.

Smyth said the density of virgin old growth wood is tighter than wood harvested today, and he expected to save 10,000 to 12,000 board-feet from the barn

Even the rotten wood that made the barn unsafe still has a future.

“The rest, the lumber that’s garbage, will be placed into piles for the owner to take care of,” Smyth said. . “The owner’s got a woodburner. He’ll wind up using quite a bit of it.”

Click on the headline to read the ful story by Julie Watts, the Times-Reporter web editor.
There’s also a video on the website.

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