Zimmel-Gartner

History

The property this barn stands on was first owned by Andrew Haden of Toronto, South Dakota. The barn was constructed in 1916 by Bernard (Barney) Schares using frame construction with platform framing. It was initially used as a horse barn. However, when Ed Fyten purchased the property in the mid 1940’s, the barn was renovated into a dairy barn. Due to this, the barn had all of the machinery and features necessary for milking. In these years, it is known that the barn was used for barn dances. Additionally, the door on the northern side of the barn was used as a separate entrance to the hayloft, where the dances were held.

In 1967, Rodney and Sherry Zimmel purchased the property. They had four children: David, Janet, Tracy and Dennis. While he had it, Rodney took the stalls out in order to create a hog barn. Eventually, Rodney turned the eastern part of the barn into a woodworking shop and the western part of the barn into pens for chickens and cattle.

In 2001, Rodney and Sherry’s daughter, Janet, and her husband, Mike Gartner, purchased the home quarter. They too had four children: Nicholas, Kevin, Amie and Jonathan. They continued to use the eastern half as a shop and the western half for turkeys, chickens and 4H calves. They kids used the loft to play badminton and hockey. Presently the loft is used to store straw and hay bales.

Gartner, Janet. Personal communication. 4 Jul. 2016.

This frame shows the north half of the roof and the eastern face of the barn.

The eastern face of the barn has the date of the barn’s construction painted on it. The barn turned 100 years old in 2016.

Inside the eastern half of the barn the stalls were taken out and the space was made into a shop.

This frame shows the south-western corner inside the shop area of the main barn.

This frame is of the doorway in the western face of the barn.

This frame shows the south-western stalls.

This frame is of the turkey coop in the southern half of the barn.

This frame shows the south-eastern corner in the corral area of the barn.

This frame was taken from the western-most door looking east. The photo shows a view from the coops to the shop.

This stall was created as a place for sick cattle, calves, or pregnant cows.

This frame is of the western face of the barn.

This frame is of the western face of the barn as well. There are two doors on this side of the barn.

The barn opens up into corrals which house cattle and turkeys.

Janet Gartner’s father created these feed chutes when he had pigs in this area.

One of the other stalls in the western half of the barn was renovated to house chickens. The Gartners have since gotten rid of their chickens and now only grow turkeys.