Barns: Chasing the Heart of America

It's arguable whether any structure could be said to represent the heart of America, but in my mind, barns symbolize so much of America's drive west, American's architectural ingenuity, and America's early frugality, that they truly seem to me to be the heart of our land.

So when I read that there was an historic round barn in Arcadia, OK, I really wanted to see it. Round barns are a bit unusual as barns go -- at least in California.  This seemed like a great chance to see something unusual.

After a wild ride through the wrong back roads of Oklahoma, we found the barn, visible in the distance by virtue of the domed roof.  Two stories tall, it was built in 1898 and restored in 1992, after nearly being destroyed by the collapse of the famous domed roof.

 Posters in the lower floor of the barn provided background on the barn's history.  Why was it round?  The story goes that farmers of the time thought round barns might provide better strength in withstanding tornadoes.  This barn, at any rate, stood against everything except time.  By 1992, when restoration began, the old building had no roof, and due to structural changes over the years, had developed a lean.

 To return the barn to an upright state, telephone poles were placed around the building, and a cable attached to turn buckles circled around the poles.  By gradually tightening the tension the building was return to plumb.  Ingenious!

While the downstairs and the process descriptions were interesting, I wasn't prepared for the spectacular beauty awaiting me in the upper floor off the barn.  The ceiling was an amazing work -- so amazing I lay on the floor to shoot upright at the ceiling for this incredible image:

The curve of the ceiling above the high walls was similarly amazing: 

 

Add to this, the building had terrific acoustics.  I could just imagine special events with music in this space.  The sounds resonated amazingly.  The docent told us that if two people stood on one side and whispered, a person across thee building would hear their conversation perfectly! 

Finally, here's an image of the lower floor to show the heavy beams and general space.  Now mostly a curio shop, proceeds help to support further work on the barn.

More on the Arcadia round barn....