-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
While no one knows for sure when this 40-foot-by-80-foot peg barn was built, Troy Melohn estimates it was around 1915 or 1920.

JOLLEY — A stately white barn on the old Green farm northeast of Jolley had been marking time for decades, until the Melohn family put things in motion — literally — this November.

Spectators of all ages parked along Keota Avenue during the noon hour on Nov. 28 to watch a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. Thanks to the Vote House Moving crew from Bradgate, the old barn rolled easily through a field to its new home about half a mile north at Troy Melohn’s farm.

“This is a peg barn, and it was way too nice to tear it down,” said Melohn, 50, who lives just up the road from the site where the barn stood for decades in Butler Township in Calhoun County.

While no one knows for sure when the barn was built, Melohn estimates it was around 1915 or 1920.

“This is a really big barn,” he said. “It measures 40 feet by 80 feet and is about 30 feet tall.”

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Spectators gathered along Keota Avenue and surrounding roads to watch the Vote House Moving crew from Bradgate move this 100-plus-year-old barn north of Jolley.

An old wooden sign in the haymow with the words “Green’s Registered Herefords” hints at one way the barn was used decades ago. The barn was part of a farmstead that included a two-story farmhouse, corn crib, grove and small outbuildings.

The Melohns began demolishing the worn-out buildings after they purchased the property several years ago.

The barn, however, posed a different issue.

“The barn is within a quarter of an inch of square,” said Melohn, who wishes he knew the name of the barn builder. “The craftsmanship is superb.”

When it was clear the barn could be moved safely and fairly affordably, Melohn asked his four children (who range in age from 24 to 18) what they thought about moving the barn to the Melohn farm. “They all liked the idea,” said Melohn, whose family has owned land in Butler Township since 1882, a year before Jolley was founded.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
A hydraulic system and large I-beams helped the Vote House Moving crew move this massive barn safely and securely to Troy Melohn’s farm on Nov. 28.

Barn included state-of-the-art equipment

The spacious, gambrel-roof barn was originally designed to house horses, dairy cows and hay. It included a milking parlor, two feed rooms, a tack room and more. It also showcased equipment that would have been state-of-the-art when the barn was new, including a Louden manure carrier.

Manufactured in Fairfield, Iowa, by the Louden Machinery Company, the manure carrier from the old Green barn shows a patent date of 1907. Some ag historians have noted that William Louden’s contributions to barns and livestock farming were as revolutionary as what John Deere did for plows. Louden’s manure carriers (sometimes called “litter carriers”) saved farmers considerable time in moving manure from the barn to the manure pile or manure spreader outside.

The carrier was a large, rectangular-shaped, metal box with a rounded bottom. Overhead tracks enabled the carrier to be moved around the first floor of the barn’s interior. Later models featured pulleys and chains that allowed the carrier to be lowered to the barn floor so it could be loaded and raised again to be moved to the next spot. When it was time to empty the carrier, the box could be rotated to dump the manure outside the barn.

“I’m still deciding what I’d like to do with this,” said Melohn, who plans to repurpose the Louden equipment, which had to be removed from the barn prior to the move.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Troy Melohn holds an old wooden sign he found in the haymow. “Green’s Registered Herefords” hints at one way the barn was used decades ago.

While the old Green barn hasn’t sheltered livestock for decades, previous owners took good care of the structure and even swept out the barn a couple times each year. The barn still has traces of white paint on the top of the exterior walls and a band of faded red paint around the bottom, although time and the elements have been hard on the building. The east wall was falling off the crumbling concrete foundation.

The barn was never anchored to that original foundation.

“The barn itself weighs about 65 tons, so it wasn’t going anywhere,” Melohn said.

When it was time to roll, the Vote House Moving crew estimated the total weight at 80 tons with all the moving equipment and the barn. As the rig pulled the barn into the south driveway at the Melohn farm, the massive structure glided almost silently to its new location, almost like a large ship passing quietly in a harbor.

“They make it look so easy,” said Ron Hanson of Pomeroy, who watched the barn move to its new home. “It’s an amazing barn.”

While the move itself didn’t take too long, the Vote Housing Moving crew had started preparing the barn for this process earlier this fall. The Melohns also worked for several weeks this fall removing livestock pens, stanchions and more from the barn’s interior.

An area contractor poured the new concrete foundation and floors in late October 2023.

“I’m raising the barn up 3 feet higher than it was in its previous location, because I want to be able to drive a skid loader in there easily,” Melohn said.

After the barn was moved on Nov. 28, the crew positioned the barn onto its new foundation. The haymow door still faces the south, just as it did when the barn was located half a mile to the southeast.

“Now we have three generations of barns here,” said Melohn, referring to the white barn his grandfather Kenneth Melohn built in the 1960s and a metal pole barn built around 2005, which are located east and north, respectively, of the former Green barn.

Melohn and his family plan to remodel the century-old barn and will add steel siding to the exterior. They look forward to using the barn for a variety of purposes. “We’ll use half of it for livestock, and we’ll use the rest of it for living space where our family can hang out,” said Melohn, who has horses, cattle, goats, chickens and other livestock. “We might put some bedrooms in the haymow.”

Melohn knows the renovation process might take a number of years, but his family is up for the challenge. “I’m glad we can help save this building. It’s an amazing barn.”