Stark Round Barn, Unityville South Dakota

Date added: June 11, 2023 Categories:

The Stark Round Barn was constructed in 1921 by the Johnston Brothers firm. The Johnston Brothers Clay Works of Fort Dodge, Iowa was the leader in the construction of the hollow tile barn in Iowa. The company built their first barn in 1910 in Iowa and worked their way west into South Dakota. The Stark Round Barn is one of seven that were constructed in South Dakota.

There are three innovative technological advances that occurred with the Final Period of Round Barns. First is the use of the interior silo. While the interior silo was introduced in the 1880s, it did not come into common use until the early 1900s. The second advance that was widely adopted during this period was the self-supporting gambrel roof. This too had been a concept that was proposed in the late 1880s and not adopted until the early 1900s. The final innovation with a distinct and well-documented effect on South Dakota's round barn is the use of hollow clay tile as a building material. Clay tile was relatively affordable and was easier to clean, more sanitary and more resistant to deterioration than wood.

The Stark Round Barn exhibits many of the integral elements to round barn construction. The first and most significant is that the contractor and local building crew utilized hollow clay tile as their primary building material. For this phase of Round Barn construction, hollow clay tile was very significant and important. This round barn also utilizes the interior round silo. This type of silo was common to barns of this phase. One feature that makes this barn original is that it does not have a self-supporting gambrel roof. The design of this barn reflects a dome roof. Many barns from this period have a gambrel roof or even a conical roof. This roof is a true dome.

Compared to other States, South Dakota has a large number of polygonal and round barns still extant. More importantly, most of these barns are currently being used and/or maintained. South Dakota round barn owners take special pride in their buildings and take steps to preserve this part of South Dakota's agricultural history.

Barn Description

The Stark Round Barn is located in the vicinity of Unityville, McCook County. Its physical location is on 160 acres. This area of McCook County is predominately rural.

Local construction workers from Salem and Spencer constructed the Stark Round Barn in 1921. Johnston Brothers Clay Tile Works of Fort Dodge, Iowa designed most hollow clay tile round barns in South Dakota. This barn includes smaller hollow clay tiles from the foundation to the top of the doors and windows. Larger hollow clay tiles extend from the tops of the doors and window to the eave. The entire roof is covered with wood shingles.

Starting at the northernmost Dutch door and circling the barn to the west, the opening patterns on the Stark Round Barn are; a Dutch door, two small double-hung windows, a Dutch door, two small double hung windows, a cattle door, two small double-hung windows, a Dutch door, two small double hung windows. Each of the openings has a stone lintel. To the west of the northernmost Dutch door is a chimney that protrudes through the wood-shingled roof. There are four roof vents as well. Directly through the center of the roof extends an interior silo. It rises approximately three and one-half feet above the main roof of the barn. The silo is topped with a dome roof.

The design of the interior is very simplistic. There are stanchions around the exterior wall except where the cattle door and the dutch-doors are located. Above the stanchions is a second floor that was used to store hay. A wooden ladder located along the side of the interior silo gave access to the second floor.