Moore Round Barn

Local builder Fred “Silo” Quimby built this round barn, considered a great curiosity, in 1900 for farmer James R. Moore. Popularized by Midwest agricultural colleges in the 1890s, round barns were considered more economical to build and more efficient to operate than traditional rectangular barns. The central silo and top floor were used for hay storage, accessed by a covered high drive. With space for about 20 cows on the second-floor milking parlor, the circular layout allowed for a head stanchion where they could be fed from the silo and milked at the wider end of the triangular stall. A removable plank at the back of each stall allowed manure to be shoveled to the lower level, where it was collected to fertilize the pastures.