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News from Garfield Farm |
Campton Hills, IL- Want to learn more about historic
barns? Attend Barns 101 at Garfield Farm Museum on Sunday, August 9th
at 2 pm. The lecture, given by museum staff member, Dave Bauer, will
provide a general overview of historic barns.
The lecture will include discussions on basic
barn terminology, the evolution of barn types, and the differences
between modern and historic barns. The talk will also cover Garfield
Farm’s historic barns and how they fit in with Kane County?s
other historic rural structures. The lecture will conclude with
an optional tour of the 1842 hay and grain barn and the 1849 horse
barn.
The cost is $5 per person and refreshments will
be provided. Reservations for the lecture can be made by contacting the
museum at (630) 584-8485 or info@garfieldfarm.org.
The museum is undertaking the restoration of its
oldest barn, the 1842 hay and grain barn. Restoration is proceeding in
phases as funds become available. A $40,000 undertaking of restoring
the south wall of the barn will include repairs to 167 year old cracked
timbers and to some upright posts damaged by a 2005 lightening strike.
Once this work is completed a $60,000 restoration of the roof
will begin which requires 30 inch long white oak shingles. In 1842
there was still an abundance of wood so long shingles were made but by
1849 as evidenced in the museum’s horse barn, shorter 16 inch
shingles were used. A Kane County River Boat Fund grant of $15,000 is
being applied to this effort. More funds will be raised to continue the
entire barns restoration. Interest donors should contact the farm.
Garfield Farm Museum is a 370 acre historically
intact former 1840’s prairie farmstead and teamster inn that
volunteers and donors are preserving as an 1840’s living history
museum. The museum is located 5 miles west of Geneva, Illinois off ILL
Route 38 on Garfield Road. Reservations for the lecture can be made by
contacting the museum at (630) 584-8485 or info@garfieldfarm.org.