Live out life on the prairie on historic barn tour

Want to learn more about historic barns? Attend "Barns 101" at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9 at Garfield Farm Museum in La Fox. The lecture, given by museum staff member Dave Bauer, will provide a general overview of historic barns.

The lecture will include discussions on basic barn terminology, the evolution of barn types and the differences between modern and historic barns. The talk also will cover Garfield Farm's historic barns and how they fit in with Kane County's other historic rural structures. The lecture will conclude with an optional tour of the 1842 hay and grain barn and the 1849 horse barn.

The cost is $5 per person and refreshments will be provided. Reservations for the lecture can be made by contacting the museum at (630) 584-8485 or info@garfieldfarm.org.

The museum is undertaking the restoration of its oldest barn, the 1842 hay and grain barn. Restoration is proceeding in phases as funds become available. A $40,000 undertaking of restoring the south wall of the barn will include repairs to 167-year-old cracked timbers and to some upright posts damaged by a 2005 lightening strike. Once this work is completed a $60,000 restoration of the roof will begin which requires 30-inch long white oak shingles. In 1842, there was still an abundance of wood so long shingles were made but by 1849 as evidenced in the museum's horse barn, shorter 16-inch shingles were used.

A Kane County River Boat Fund grant of $15,000 is being applied to this effort. More funds will be raised to continue the entire barns restoration. Interested donors should contact the farm.

Garfield Farm Museum is a 370-acre historically intact former 1840s prairie farmstead and teamster inn that volunteers and donors are preserving as an 1840s living history museum. The museum is located on Garfield Road, off Route 38, five miles west of Geneva.

Reservations for the lecture can be made by calling the museum at (630) 584-8485 or sending an e-mail to info@garfieldfarm.org.