The barn at the Hull Dairy in Whitney, Idaho is seen framed by the slats of a fence on Thursday. (Meegan M. Reid/Herald Journal)
This article was published in the Herald Journal today. Way to go Rob for all your hard work that you do to make the farm a cool place and something we can be proud of . We are proud of you!
Preserving history
Friday, April 10, 2009 2:26 AM CDT
Whitney family works to restore 80-year-old barnWHITNEY — It’s big, it’s old, it’s drafty and it’s dirty.And, to its owners, it’s a part of Cache Valley’s history that’s well worth preserving.The barn on Robert and Rob Hull’s dairy farm has withstood at least 80 summers and winters, and the Hulls are hoping to make it last even longer. The father-and-son dairy owners have begun efforts to restore and repair the barn, with some help from government historical preservation agencies.
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“I’ve worked and been a part of this barn for 50 years and it’s just a neat structure I’d like to see kept up,” said Robert Hull, Rob’s father.The barn is 40 feet wide, 70 feet long and is about 41 feet high at its peak. Any written records of its history are missing, but estimates are that it was built sometime in the 1920s, when A.C. Hull — Robert’s grandfather and Rob’s great-grandfather — was running the farm, Rob Hull said.Years of strong winds from the southwest have twisted and bent the barn’s arched roof, said Keith Jones, an engineer hired to evaluate and plan the barn’s restoration. Gaps in the tin roof have let water enter and weaken the wood in some areas and much of the siding has deteriorated or been stripped away over the years, Jones said.Jones, who works for AHJ Engineers in Boise, Idaho, was at the Hull Dairy Thursday to finalize plans for the barn’s restoration. Also present was Lisa Duskin-Goede, a heritage specialist who works with the Bear River Association of Governments. Duskin-Goede said BRAG has been working for several years to preserve historic barns in the Bear River Heritage Area — which includes much of Northern Utah and Southeast Idaho.Duskin-Goede helped secure a $1,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which the Hulls were required to match. The Idaho Heritage Trust also granted $8,000 to aid in the barn’s preservation. So far, the money has gone to cover the fees of Jones and architect Fred Walters, Duskin-Goede said. Soon, the Hulls will hire a contractor to do the work, Jones said.The trusses of the barn’s roof will be reinforced and stiffened using steel plates and cables in some places, Jones said. Additional 2-inch-by-8-inch boards will also be placed in some spots to strengthen it. New siding will be placed on the south side to block wind and rain, and the tin roof will be replaced, he said.Rob Hull said he would like to keep the barn in good condition and allow interested people to check out a piece of the valley’s history.“It’s definitely a neat barn and it represents the heritage of the area,” he said. “Getting to be a lot less of them now.”Also on hand Thursday was Richard Eversull, who cares for a historic barn owned by Nibley City. Eversull said he hopes to make the Nibley barn into a place the community can gather. Barns are a crucial part of the area’s past and should be preserved, he said.“If we allow it, it wouldn’t be long until these places are all pushed down,” he said
