Lost and Found

Lost

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s annual theme for 2012, “The Land of Penn and Plenty: Bringing History to the Table,” encourages citizens to consider not only the Keystone State’s rich culinary traditions and foodways, but also historic places associated with the growing, processing, marketing, and preparation of food. The Commonwealth possesses a wealth of unusual agricultural buildings including rare styles and forms of barns, but many of these are rapidly disappearing. Round barns were highly popular between 1880 and 1930 because many farmers believed they were less expensive to erect than traditional square or rectangular buildings. The economical benefits and claims of efficiency were vastly overstated, and round barns never became a standard building type as their proponents had forecast. Photographed in 1969 by Fred Yenerall (1907–1983), a retiree who captured quirky roadside novelties on 35mm film from the 1960s until his death, the Swartz Round Barn in Menallen Township, Fayette County, was demolished in 1982 for the development of a subdivision. Images by the Greensburg, Westmoreland County, resident are showcased in The Fred Yenerall Collection.

Found

Historic Preservation often means giving new life to older and historic buildings and structures by reusing them for new and innovative purposes. In 1985 Knouse Fruitlands purchased Biglerville’s well-known landmark, the Historic Round Barn, located eight miles west of Gettysburg, in Adams County, from descendants of the original owners. Designed by Morris Rhodes, a Chambersburg, Franklin County, architect, and erected in 1914 by builder John Fritz of nearby Cashtown for the Noah Sheely family, which began planting an orchard on the property in 1878, the spectacular structure measures 282 feet in circumference with a diameter of more than 87 feet. As originally constructed, the barn could house fifty head of cattle and sixteen horses or mules. After acquiring the barn, Knouse Fruitlands made extensive repairs, including replacing the original slate roof with cedar shake shingles. Today the barn is a showplace, attracting sightseers as well as customers to its farm market offering fresh local produce in season. The barn is also rented for special events, including meetings, parties, and wedding receptions.