Musings of a Local by Iris Mead - The Round Barn of Halcottsville

The original Round Barn shortly after it was built.

The Round Barn had deteriorated to this degree before restoration.

HALCOTTSVILLE — Having had access throughout my childhood to this round barn near my home and owned by my grandfather, Chester Mead, I thought it pretty cool and, of course, different from any of the other barns in the area. Just below Halcottsville (or Halcottville – see an earlier article of mine re the name) on Route 30, the Round Barn was widely known and talked about. This round barn was built in 1899 by Hiram Kelly. one of the Kelly Brothers, early farmers in Halcottsville, to replace a regular barn that burned in 1897. My grandfather owned a farm at the edge of Halcottsville, ½ mile away, and purchased the adjoining farm with the Round Barn from Libbie Mead in 1942. He ran it with his son, Virgil Mead, and Marshall Avery. Later, Virgil and his sons Stanley and Richard operated it until the early 1960s. There was a 12-room farmhouse built in 1890 that Libbie ran for summer guests called the Pleasant Home Farm. It was located in the front of the property. The Meads and Averys lived in that house until it burned down on Christmas Day in 1942.

This particular round barn was unique in that it was quite large. All the wood used in the construction was oak that came from the farm itself, and a mill on the site “sweated” the wood to make it pliable enough to bend around the semi-circle-like hoops of a barrel. Everything in the barn was circular except inside the silo where there were straight boards for support. This barn had a center silo but it was not used as they didn’t have enough silage to seal it. There is a family story about Richard and his brother playing in the silo. He fell from quite a height onto the cement floor. Luckily, there was hay in the silo and he had on layers of clothes because it was winter so he wasn’t injured.

The barn was three stories high; the first floor held the milking cows, the second story was a storage area for loose and baled hay and the third story was entered by a bridgeway for tractors and wagons to enter. There was a haymow in the second story and the hay was pitched down to the cows through chutes. One disadvantage of a round barn was trying to maneuver a tractor with a manure spreader around a round barn. I remember watching the cows come in for milking and each one knew exactly where their stanchion was.

This barn could hold up to 60 cows but the Meads usually had between 25 to 30 because they were a small farm and didn’t have enough meadowland for hay to feed more than that number. Most of the milking was done by milking machines rather than by hand but there were always 4 or 5 cows that didn’t like being hooked up to a machine and would kick the machine over. The farmers also took care of the “barn cats” by squirting the milk directly from the cow’s teats into their mouths as they sat patiently waiting.

After the cow was milked, the milk was taken in pails to the milk house, and poured through cloth-lined strainers atop the milk can. The cans were then placed in a cold water vat, ready to be sent to the creamery in Halcottsville

After the Meads stopped farming the barn gradually deteriorated. Through the years, numerous articles in major publications and newspapers brought visitors curious about a round barn. Virgil allowed them to walk around and take pictures. Finally, due to deterioration and the possibility of collapse, visitors were not allowed.

In 1981 Frank Mann, who owned Alta Industries, the adjoining property, purchased the Mead property. He was able to get the Erpf Center in Arkville interested in saving this historic barn, donating it and four acres to the Center. In 1985 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The blue sign signifying a NYS Historical Registry was placed near the entrance to the barn a few years ago. The community rallied around the call to “Save the Round Barn, and many fundraising events took place and donations came in. The Round Barn was saved! Today the popular Pakatakan Farmers Market is open on Saturdays 9-1 from May through mid-October with vendors inside the restored Round Barn as well as outside. There is information on the design of the barn and old pictures inside. As you walk around the circle, picture the back end of the cows constantly feeding and being milked.

Thanks to Diane Galush’s book As The River Runs, The Kelly Brothers Round Barn An Historical Report 1899-1988, my cousin Richard Mead and my memories of this barn.