Barn
The
Walking Tour of the Walkup Heritage Farm & Gardens begins at the barn. The barn
was built by John M. Walkup in 1942 following his move back to the house of his
grandfather after selling his own farm at 300 N. Walkup (Walkup and Route 176).
The previous dairy barn had burned during the Depression when the property was
temporarily vacant and most of the other outbuildings had fallen into disrepair
and had to be replaced.
The barn
was built to house tractors and related equipment and was not to be used for
dairy cows, which were no longer a part of the farm operation. However, a place
still needed to be provided for two plow horses who were kept primarily for
their manure and to pull a wooden buckboard wagon used for spreading the manure
on the fields. As a boy, my grandfather took me on rides in the wagon, including
a ride into what is now the Walkup Woods subdivision, just prior to its being
sold for development. We were not able to go very far into the woods, however,
as the wagon would not fit on the narrow trails. You will note two barn stalls
for the horses, which are the originals and which show indentations in the floor
boards where the horses would stamp their rear feet.
There is also a display board in the barn showing photographs of the planted areas during their period of maximum flowering as well as a circa 1905 picture taken of the front of the house and its then occupants. Seated are Leonidas and Evelyn Walkup, brother and sister, who were aunt and uncle to John M. and William Walkup, who are shown standing, John M. being on the right.