Zwack-Roth

History

This is a large 32 x 50 gambrel roof barn with an attached shed on the northern face measuring the width of the barn x 20’ long. It was built on a field-stone and mortar foundation. The barn has a hay hood and the hay carrier system, still intact. A set of stairs lead the the loft. A large door is intact with a rectangular window on each side. The large rectangular cupola is about 4 ft long and 3 ft wide with wood slated louvres. The roof has cedar shingles. The floor is heavy hard-wood planks and the siding is wooden drop siding. Five windows line both sides of the barn, each above a double stall. This barn was built for at least 10 work horses. There is a side entrance to the barn on the western side of the barn as well as a smaller side door to the loft. The main entrance to the barn is a big sliding door on the southern face of the barn. On the northern side, there is a door to the shed addition. The barn was painted red with white trim.

Louis Kilmer was the head carpenter for this barn and built it in 1913 for Mike Zwack. Mike retired to Daysland in 1942. Joe and Adrienne (Brausen) took over the farm in 1945 and they likely used the barn for some livestock – perhaps milk cows. Joe and Adrienne retired in 1973. They had one infant son who passed away in 1947. After that, it was sold to Gary and Dorothy Meyer who resided elsewhere and so they did not use the barn. This land was sold to Ken Roth in 1990. The barn continues to remain empty and is falling into disrepair. It would once have been a beauty, as it still is today – even in its neglected state.

Please check out the other barn owned by Ken and Kathy Roth, which is also featured in this database.

Roth, Kathy. Personal communication. 26 June 2017.

Ken and Kathy Roth. Wagon Trails in the Sod: A History of the Heisler Area: Volume II. 1st ed. Heisler: Heisler Community Historical Society, 2017, pg. 670. Print.

This frame shows the southern face of the barn and part of the western side of the barn. Note the loft door which folds down instead of opening in halves or sliding down.

This frame shows the southern face and eastern side of the barn.

This frame is of the eastern half of the barn. This barn had four additional stalls inside the addition on the North side of the barn.

This frame shows the northern parts of the barn and the addition.

This frame is of the northern face of the barn and the addition.

The addition on this barn is unique because it had a flat roof instead of a shed roof and it was built onto the face of the barn and not the side of the barn.

This frame shows the north-western corner of the addition.

This frame is of the western side of the addition.

This frame shows the south-eastern corner of the addition. The addition was added onto the existing barn. As such, the original red paint is still in great condition inside the addition.

This frame is of the north-eastern corner of the main barn. It shows the other side of the wall in the previous image. Notice the large gates which were used to keep stock inside their stalls.

This frame shows the northern door on the North side of the main barn. Notice the main beam from a cart which lies on the dirt floor in this frame.

This frame shows the stalls which exist in the north-western corner of the main barn.

This frame shows the stalls on the western half of the main barn. Notice the tack hangers and the enclosed stalls. The open door in the center-left of this frame leads up to the loft.

This frame shows the eastern half of the main barn. Notice the broken hay sling in the center-right of the frame. It hangs from the ceiling.

This image shows how close this barn is to its end. This post, which helps hold up the loft floor and supports the beams inside the barn, has been split, likely by a strong wind. Soon it will no longer be able to perform its function and this area of the barn will collapse.