Round Barn On National Historic Register

Round Barn On National Historic Register The J. Whitney Goff Round Barn in Winfred, S.D., is a historic building that reflects the era in which it was built. According to the United States Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places, the barn “embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.” The barn was used between 1915 and 1943. It’s the work of Johnston Brothers Clay Works of Fort Dodge, Iowa, a company that built its first barn in 1910 in Iowa and expanded operations westward. The J. Whitney Goff Round Barn is one of seven that the company built in South Dakota. Records show that the barn’s original design included a dome roof, but it was replaced with a gambrel conical roof after a tornado in 1943. Round barns, like the Goff, showcase several technological advances from the era. One is an interior silo, an invention from the 1880s that didn’t catch on until the 1900s. Another innovation is the self-supporting gambrel roof, along with the use of hollow clay tile as the primary building material. At the time, clay tile was considered a superior material because it was affordable, easy to clean, and more sanitary and durable than wood. The barn’s clay tiles are built on a concrete foundation. The interior silo projects through the center of the roof. Walk inside, and you’ll find a simplistic interior with stanchions around the exterior walls, along with an interior silo. Above the stanchions is a second floor, complete with a wooden ladder along the side of the silo for access to the second floor. The first floor’s ceiling houses a metal track. Unlike the surrounding states, many of South Dakota’s round and polygonal barns still stand. Many of these barns are still in use or in a restoration process. Their owners take pride in their piece of South Dakota’s agricultural history and aim to preserve it for future generations. Currently, the J. Whitney Goff Round Barn sits on an active farm.

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