This 164-year old log barn once housed mules.
Something about abandoned old things—barns, homesteads, pieces of equipment — stirs my imagination. Who lived there? Why did they move? How many bales of hay, head of livestock, or plows were protected from the elements under that barn roof now open to the weather? How many bales did that old cotton picker harvest before rust and wear and newer models made it obsolete? How many hands showed up to raise that barn decades ago?
I wonder every time I drive by an abandoned farm house, an old barn that tilts just a bit, or an ancient tractor rusting in a field or covered by layers of spare parts, fertilizer bags and bird poop, what memories might be stored in the dark corners and rickety lofts.
The log barn in this gallery was an original mule barn on Stovall Plantation, Prairie Place. It is 164 years old, built out of swamp cypress logs 40 feet long, according to Pete Hunter, Stovall Farms, where this barn, an old seed house and an old feedlot barn are located.
The feed lot barn was used for hay and corn storage for farm cattle and was built in the early 30s. The old seed house was built along with the Stovall gin and dates back to the late 1800s. Thanks to Mr. Hunter for access to these old Stovall Farms structures and for sharing the history behind them
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like