Secrest 1883 Octagonal Barn, 5750 Osage St SE, West Liberty (Johnson County), 4 miles East Iowa City
There is no barn like this anywhere in the world. It has an 8-sided bell-shaped roof with laminated ribs, held together in part with square nails. Joshua and Esther Secrest were early successful Iowa farmers with 520 acres of land in Johnson County. George Frank Longerbeam was the carpenter, living in nearby Downey. The upper level has storage for 200 tons of loose hay. The middle level was used for unloading hay with fork and rope, storage rooms, wooden tracks to download hay from top floor and move on rail car to attached cattle-feeding-shed. The lower level held 32 horses and 16 dairy cows. Four shafts from the upper floor provided openings to drop down feed for the horses and cows below (Award of Distinction).
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