Menno Yoder Polygonal Barn - Prough Barn, Shipshewana Indiana

Date added: April 21, 2023 Categories: Indiana Barn Round Barn

The Menno Yoder Polygonal Barn (now known as the Brown Swiss Dairy barn) is one of few masonry barns in the state, and is one of only two remaining polygonal concrete structures remaining in Indiana. The barn is an important and direct link to the agricultural development that occurred in the state. After 1936, round and polygonal barns were considered obsolete; the last round structure in the state was built in 1936 to replace a 1915 round barn that had burned (Grant County, Richland Township, extant).

The owner and builder of the barn was Menno S. Yoder, a local farmer who set out to build a large and durable barn with distinction, and then publicized his efforts in various farm journals. Yoder also intended to patent and market the design, and undertaking that proved to be unsuccessful. The construction and dedication of the barn were described in journals such as Huntington's The Farmer's Guide and the more widely circulated Hoard's Dairyman. In these issues, Yoder proclaimed the design as a great improvement. His barn had a large upper-level hay mow and lower level with labor-saving accouterments as a central manure carrier and a merry-go-round hay carrier (Eventually, the carrier was replaced by a crane-like boom which carried loads in a pendulum fashion). Windows were screen-covered for protection, and the upper-level bridge entrance ramp was sixteen feet wide, and constructed of reinforced concrete. Specified foundation thickness was 3'6", tapering to one foot at grade. The lower one-third wall surface was one foot thick; the next third, ten inches; the top third was eight inches thick. The mixing of the concrete, reinforced throughout with metal fencing and scrap iron from bridges, was described as one part cement and six parts gravel for the foundation and one to five for the walls. Additionally, large stones were tamped into the foundation and as the forms were removed from the wall sections, the concrete surfaces were painted with a mix of pure cement and water.

The all poured concrete construction yielded construction costs of less than $1800, with the costs being lowered by Yoder's own work and materials. An eleven-foot by fifty-one-foot concrete silo was added in 1911 for $511 or $210 for materials and $300 for labor. Later still, a one-story barn and a two-story barn were attached to the west side to expand and modernize the dairy operation (A story barn added in early 1960s and two-story barn in early 1920s). Finally, Yoder was so convinced of the possibilities of concrete in construction that he erected a concrete house in 1911.

Menno S. Yoder maintained ownership of the barn until his death in the 1940s, at which time his daughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Prough, assumed ownership. The barn then passed to the Prough's son, Malcolm, in 1985. Malcolm Prough continues to own and maintain the property, known locally as the Brown Swiss Dairy, a name that is proudly displayed on the barn's north side.

There were eighteen twelve-sided barns built in Indiana, the third most popular style of Indiana's 219 round and polygonal barns (behind true circles [151] and octagons [33]). The barns were built in Allen County (Adams Township, razed), Clinton County (Michigan Township, extant), three in Huntington County (Huntington and Lancaster Townships, extant and Polk Township, razed), Kosciusko County (Washington Township, extant), the Yoder (Prough) barn, three in Marshall County (Greene Township, with two extant and one razed), Miami County (Washington Township, razed), two in Parke County (Raccoon and Greene Township, both razed), Ripley County (Jackson Township, extant), Shelby County (Noble Township, extant), Tippecanoe County (Randolph Township, extant), Wabash County (Lagro Township, razed) and White County (Princeton Township, razed). Of the eighteen that were constructed, only ten survive and of the eighteen twelve-sided examples, the Yoder (Prough) barn is the only one constructed of poured concrete. Finally, of the eighteen twelve-sided barns in Indiana, sixteen were built after the 1905 patent issue on round barn roofs. Therefore, the bulk of the twelve-sided barns were probably built in order to skirt the patent rights of McNamee, Duncan and Littleton.

The Yoder (Prough) barn is an unusual and unique example of a polygonal barn, being one of only three poured concrete barns constructed in the state and the only twelve-sided example. The other two poured concrete examples include a true circular barn in Greene County's Jefferson Township, extant and a true circular example in Sullivan County (Turman Township) that unfortunately was demolished. The barn has the essential physical features that it possessed at the time of its period of significance, from 1908 to the mid 1930s. Although the barn has aged, it has not been significantly altered since its erection and serves as a link to the development of agriculture in Indiana and as a reminder of the entrepreneurial spirit of a turn of the century farmer.

Barn Description

Located in rural LaGrange County on the outskirts of Shipshewana, Indiana is one of the state's two remaining examples of a poured concrete polygonal barn. Built in 1908 with owner Menno Yoder providing some of the labor, this unusual twelve-sided barn with additions is now known as the Brown Swiss Dairy barn. A gravel drive extends to the barn, passing the 1911 concrete farmhouse. Other buildings on the farm are the garage behind the house, another barn southeast of the polygonal structure, and a shed. The polygonal barn itself consists of the original 1908 twelve-sided barn, a 1911 attached silo, a c.1920 rectangular barn addition, and a 1960s one-story barn addition. Immediately adjacent to this complex is a free-standing c.1950 milk house. The site is characterized as having mature trees. Cultivated fields lie to the south and west.

The twelve-sided, two-storied structure is capped by a two-pitch sectional gambrel with a metal aerator at the apex. The one-story 1960s barn on the northwest side is covered by a gambrel roof that slopes down on the east side to cover the gap between the polygonal barn and the two-story c.1920 barn behind. The two-story c.1920 barn on the southwest side is sheltered by a shallow pitch gable roof which slopes down to one story in height as it wraps around the twelve-sided barn, stopping short of the silo addition. A small rectangular addition on the south side of the two-story barn was erected in c.1960. The rectangular c.1920 barn is two stories tall, yet is less than half the width of the twelve-sided barn.

All roof surfaces are sheathed in metal and feature slight overhanging eaves and exposed rafters. Walls of the polygonal barn are of poured concrete which were never painted or finished. The c.1920 barn has vertical wood-sided walls, and the c.1960 barn has glazed block walls. All foundations are of concrete.

Looking to the main facade on the east, the large ramp up to the upper doors is apparent with metal fencing functioning as a railing along the sides. The doors are one and one-half stories in height and are composed of vertical planks that slide on overhead tracks. Further, centered on each door is a four-light window. Continuing around the upper level in a clockwise Manner, the next face contains a central four-light window, followed by the silo on the next wall and a central four-light window on the fourth and fifth walls. The sixth wall contains a four-light window that was placed higher up, while there are no upper-level windows on the sixth and seventh walls. The eighth wall contains a central four-light window as does the tenth and twelfth. The ninth and eleventh wall sections contain high four light windows that are centered on their faces. The attached barns on the west have a mixture of irregular window types, some with divided lights and some with plate glass. The milk shed has a nine-light window on the north and east walls and a human-sized door on the west.

The lower level is characterized by the underneath side of the upper ramp on the east, followed by two equally spaced four-light windows on the second face and the base of the silo on the third, next to a rectangular window unit. The fourth face contains a large sliding door mounted on overhead tracks and similar in design to those on the east. These doors are now hidden from view by the wing walls of the attached two-story barn. Walls five through eight are likewise hidden by the attached barns but wall five contains a central four-light window, six has a pair of four-light windows, seven has another large sliding door, and eight has another pair of four-light windows. The ninth face contains a four-light window, followed by another sliding door on an overhead track on the tenth wall. The doors, similar to the others with four light windows in the centers of the doors is completed by the year 1908 inscribed in the concrete next to the opening. The eleventh wall contains a smaller-width sliding door on an overhead track and the twelfth wall has a four-light window next to another smaller-width sliding door.

On the lower level's interior, the plan is very efficient and well-arranged. A central drive runs from north to south, connecting the two lower-level doors. On either side are pens for horses and cows, with four horse stalls on either side at the north end and six cattle stalls on either side at the south end. There is a small walkway between the horse and cattle stalls and another walkway next to the outside walls at the south end of the barn. Behind the stalls on both the east- and west sides are smaller open areas with feed alleys that served as low pens for sheep and calves. Additionally, there is a set of stairs to the upper level in the northeast corner of the barn and a bull stall in the northwest corner.

The upper level is comprised of a large hay mow for the storage of hay and straw and the roof's system is readily visible. Windows help to provide light to the upper level where laminated beams serve as the main means of support between the two different roof sections. Additionally, another laminated beam is placed near the roof's apex to offer support for the metal aerator that successfully ventilates the upper reaches of the barn. The only door on the upper level is the one on the east that is serviced by the ramp and the stairs to the lower level are located in the northeast quadrant.

The lower level interiors of the attached barns are composed of many pens located on either side of a main walkway running north to south. There is a shorter walkway that connects this main walk to the twelve-sided barn, with the smaller walk running east-west. The upper level of both two-story barns remains open for the storage of hay and straw. The northern barn, being one story, has only attic space above the lower level.

The Yoder (Prough) barn is an excellently maintained and unusual example of a polygonal barn. Although additions have been built through the years, they have all been changes that have helped the barn to survive the changing face of agriculture and the dairy business. Because of the flexibility of the structure, this barn remains as an icon to the evolution of agriculture in the state of Indiana.