Round barn

This round barn, which is about a 5 mile drive from my house, is the closest to me in a county that boasts the title, "Round Barn Capital of the World" and hosts the round barn festival every June. While the county technically doesn't have the most barns, what it lacks in wood and stone it makes up in enthusiasm. After having claimed the title, it was determined a county in Wisconsin had more surviving round or hexagon shaped barns, Fulton was allowed to retain it due to the extensive documentation that had already been accomplished.

While the round barn shape was originally a Quaker design, it has long been thought that the original idea was conceived as a way to keep the devil from hiding in the corners of a typical barn. The design was also promoted in Agriculture schools as a study in efficiency because the buildings required fewer building materials and were thought to be more resilient against violent thunderstorms. The barns were primarily built in our part of the country between 1850 and 1936. Sadly only a fraction of them still stand.

Of interest, in this case, is the decorative shingle roof. Farm animal images circle the entire building and can be seen clearly from US31. This is a working beef farm.