December 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

MOVING DAY:
Melohn Family Relocates Century-Old Barn Near Jolley
By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
It’s not every day you see a massive,
old barn rolling down the road. It’s
no wonder that spectators of all ages
parked along Keota Avenue during the
noon hour on November 28 to watch a
once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
Thanks to the Vote House Moving
crew from Bradgate, the old barn
rolled easily through a field to its new
home about half a mile north at Troy
Melohn’s farm. People who watched
the whole event kept commenting,
“That’s just amazing!” and “It’s so great
this beautiful old barn is being saved.”
“This is a peg barn, and it was way
too nice to tear it down,” said Troy
Melohn, 50, the barn owner. He lives
just up the road from the site where the
barn stood for decades in Butler Township
in Calhoun County.
While no one knows for sure when
the barn was built, Melohn estimates
it was around 1915 or 1920. “This is a
really big barn. It measures 40 feet by
80 feet and is about 30 feet tall.”
An old wooden sign in the haymow
with the words “Green’s Registered
Herefords” hints at one way the barn
was used decades ago. The barn was
part of a farmstead that included a
two- story farmhouse, corn crib, grove
and small outbuildings. The Melohns
began demolishing the worn-out buildings
after they purchased the property
several years ago.
The barn, however, posed a different
issue. “The barn is within a quarter
of an inch of square,” said Melohn,
who wishes he knew the name of the
barn builder. “The craftsmanship is superb.”
When it was clear the barn could
be moved safely and fairly affordably,
Melohn asked his four children (who
range in age from 24 to 18) what they
thought about moving the barn to the
Melohn farm. “They all liked the idea,”
said Melohn, whose family has owned
land in Butler Township since 1882—a
year before Jolley was founded.
Barn included state-of-the-art
equipment
The spacious, gambrel-roof barn
was originally designed to house horses,
dairy cows and hay. It included a
milking parlor, two feed rooms, a tack
room and more. It also showcased
equipment that would have been stateof-the-art
when the barn was new, including
a Louden manure carrier.
Manufactured in Fairfield, Iowa, by
the Louden Machinery Company, the
manure carrier from the old Green barn
shows a patent date of 1907. Some
ag historians have noted that William
Louden’s contributions to barns and
livestock farming were as revolutionary
as what John Deere did for plows.
Louden’s manure carriers (sometimes
cont. on pg. 8
Page 6
December 2023