Meyer/Schares

History

This barn was built in the early 1920s by the Schares Family using frame construction and balloon framing. Christina Schares homesteaded this property with the help of her five sons, three of whom were carpenters. When the Schares family owned this property, they used the barn for show horses. When Lloyd Meyer purchased the property from his father, Leo, he began to use the barn for dairy cattle. The barn is now only used for storage. This barn is one of two barns in this yard. Please click here to see the other barn in this yard.

The ventilators on the roof of the barn used to have white glass globes on the tips of the lightning rods. As well, there used to be metal horses on the back end of the weather vanes. These decorations were all shot off by Lloyd and his brothers when they were young. There is a Canadian centennial star on the east face of the barn for decoration. Lloyd bought the star at an auction and nailed to the barn. The barn was last painted on behalf of the realtor company that owned the property before the Meyers. The men hired to do the job stayed in one of the original homestead buildings on site.

Meyer, Lloyd. Personal communication. 14 Jun. 2016.

This frame shows the south and east faces of the barn. There is a Canadian centennial star on the east face of the barn.

This frame gives a closer look at the centennial star and the hay hood on the east face of the barn.

This view of the south face of the barn shows the unique three pane windows, the falling eaves, and the entry route for power into the barn. The door on this face gives entry to the walkway in front of the dairy cattle stalls.

This frame shows the west face of the barn. The upper left portion of the frame shows where a chunk of the metal sheeting has blow off the roof.

This photo was taken from the entrance on the south side of the barn. This photo looks east at the area in front of the dairy cattle stalls and the staircase going up to the loft.

The stalls had head gates to hold the cattle while milking and a vacuum system to run the milking machine. The cross member with attached pipe in this photo is part of the vacuum system.

The door in the right side of this frame is the door on the east face of the bar. The room pictured here was for storing feed and milking equipment.

This frame shows a closer picture of the staircase going up into the loft.

The loft floor uses wooden tongue-and-groove planks.

The staircase had a trapdoor lip and a brace to keep it open.

Inside the staircase room there was a hand carved wooden chute for transferring grains.

Also inside the staircase room was the hay rack sling that was used to carrying the square bales.

The backside of the loft’s hay door was visible from within the loft.

This frame shows the southern half of the barn’s roof.

This frame gives a close-up of the posts in the loft of the barn.

Location

52.625338, -112.309426 SE 14-42-17 W4

Characteristics

Barn Condition: Good

Construction Date: Built in the early 1920s

Features: Two metal ventilators, weather vane, hay hood and hay track

Roof Shape: Gambrel

Paint: Red

Decorations: No names or dates, centennial star on eastern face

Roof Covering: Metal roofing

Siding: Wooden clapboard siding

Foundation: Cement

Additional Information on the Property

See the other Meyer/Schares barn.

Meyer, Catherine. “Meyer, Leo and Catherine”. Wagon Trails in the Sod: A History of the Heisler Area. 1st ed. Heisler: Heisler Historical Society, 1982. Print.