Our Historic Wedding Venue: The History of the Barn
Although the beginning of a new year is usually a time to look forward, I want to take this opportunity to take a step back and look at the history of JR’s Barn, our historic wedding venue in MN built in 1912. It is interesting to visualize the history of the barn to appreciate the beauty that it has become!
Joel’s great grandfather, Otto Groskreutz, purchased the property with the help of his uncle. The house was built first and then the barn. It is a beam frame barn, with wooden pegs that hold the joints together. I can only imagine the team effort it took to put a barn like that together since they didn’t have power equipment in 1912; they didn’t even have electricity! The craftsmanship in those days was very impressive when you think of the tools they had available.
When the barn was finished the pastor of the church came out and blessed the barn. He took a paint brush and painted a very large 1912 on the west wall in red paint. You can still see those numbers very clearly today! We don’t know if there was a party with a barn dance to commemorate the completion but we’re guessing there could have been, so you could say we’re carrying on an old family tradition – I had to throw that in there for you Hank jr. fans out there!
From the beginning the barn was loved and cared for by our family; it was a very important part of our farm, as it is in all farming families. It not only housed animals and stored their food, it was also where cows were milked, horses were tended and animals fed. It was the place where the family worked together and the kids played together in the hay loft. 107 years later the barn is still loved and cared for by our family. Just imagine if the walls could talk; what stories would they share from the different generations?
After Otto no longer farmed, the next Groskreutz who owned the farm was his youngest son, Louis. He also milked cows, raised calves and kept his horses in the barn. There are several places around the barn that you can still see Louis’ touch today. There was a spot on the wall where the calves were kept that had chew marks on it, so Louis nailed up a couple of pieces of tin and said, “There, chew on that!” There are also some metal rings that Louis fastened to the outside of the barn to tie up the horses. We left those pieces, along with others, right where they were in remembrance of Louis. There is a lot of country living history around here.
When Louis retired from farming his only son, Alvin, took over the family farm. He changed residents of the barn to hogs, added electricity, and plumbed water into the barn. Alvin also added an auger inside the barn to fill the feeders. It was powered by a feed mixer-mill and tractor outside the barn coupled with a power-take-off shaft. These things, among many others, were hand crafted to suit his needs.
Alvin’s youngest son, Joel, was the next (and current) owner of the farm. He continued to raise hogs in the barn, added a cement floor and a ceiling to the center bay. That bay was previously used for bringing the wagon of hay into the barn. The hay hook was used to lift the hay up and over to the hay loft. Around 1996 Joel quit raising hogs so the barn was used as a garage for vehicles, mowers, and other items needing storage.The barn was used for this purpose until 2014 when things started to drastically change. That story will have to wait until the next installment.
It is truly amazing to take a step back and look at the barn’s history. Whether it was actively being used as a working barn or just being used as storage, it has always been a focal point of our family’s farm. The legacy of the barn has carried on through generations in our family and is now being enjoyed by the community. Next week we will dive into how our barn became the beauty it is today, what makes our barn so special and why it makes such an excellent venue.
*A special thanks to my father, Joel, for helping write this week’s post.
