OCR Text |
Show Page 18 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume II, Issue XVIII September 15, 2000 A Trip to Mr. Allen’s Barn is a Trip Back in Time By Shanna Francis building came from other old barns in the area, or were custom made replicas of such items. Articles that one would expect to For a trip back in time, take a visit see gracing the interior walls of a barn to Lyle Allen’s . . . barn? Yes, but this can be found in this quasi museum— is no ordinary barn. It was made with horse harnesses with collars, bridles, a lot of care and thought. Though the and tugs; single, double and triple trees and horse hitches; pitchforks; sickles, scythes and cradles; hand made horseshoes; spurs; a handheld seeder; and even a Jackson Fork, to name only a few. What you might not expect to find are an old Schwinn bicycle, a child’s rocking horse, a cobbler’s box of tools, and an old church bench that once hosted Sunday morning priesthood holders in the Mr. Allen studies a 1908 ledger from the once old white Huntsville flourishing Petersen Mercantile. church. The church is long building looks like any other agricul- gone now, replaced by Valley tural structure built a half a century Elementary’s parking lot across from ago, in reality, it was just recently built the old market. A row of children’s school desks, in 1995. Mr. Allen of Huntsville, drew privy to the mischievous deeds of early up the plans after his parents passed Huntsville students who haven’t away. They left many old collectible returned from recess, waits expectantly items behind. Some of the nicer things against the wall. The desks came from have become part of the Lyle and the early purple schoolhouse that has LaVon household, but many other since been enveloped by the current items needed a more appropriate place elementary. to retire. The answer was the structure Mr. Allen built that acts as a type of museum as much as, well . . . a barn. The only things missing are the hayloft and the farm critters. The barn was fashioned after barns of an earlier era. It was built with rough-cut nine-inch boards that were specially cut for the project at Max Robinson’s saw mill in Mt. Green. Like many older barns in the area, no stain or paint was used to enhance the wood. Equipment necessary to run a farm in a not-so-disThe windows used in the tant era, hangs idle on the walls of the Allen barn. barn came from an old One of the most interesting items CCC Camp building that once stood in housed in the barn is a ledger, dated Huntsville during the depression years. 1908, that came from the Huntsville The windows have been well used Petersen Brothers store. A piece of letsince those dark days in history. terhead stuffed tidily within the pages Previous to bringing light to the barn, of the ledger reads: they allowed the sun to shine down on chickens in a coop at the Monastery in Petersen Brothers Huntsville. When they were no longer Dealers in General Merchandise needed to illuminate the coop, they Sheep Camp; Tourist Supplies were generously donated to the Allens. a Specialty The floor joists and rafters and —Public telephone station beams—one, 4 x 16 and 24 inches —All kinds of household remedies long—also came from the Monastery. Some of the hardware that graces the A glance through the ledger is very revealing. A list of names and items names different Valley households’, and their likes and needs. A more thorough review offers a more revealing picture of habits and ways. It is interesting that many people would be given cash, which was charged to their bill—the loan being interest free, without so much as a signature to secure the loan. A few of the many antiques that line the walls and Others would bring eggs, onions, butter, etc. to the shelves in the Allen barn. Ogden Valley News Staff Lyle Allen stands in front of the barn that stores his antiques. The outhouse to the left was built during the Depression years by Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews. store for credit, which the customer would then use to secure other needed household and farm items. It wasn’t uncommon for customers to run up a long list of charged goods for months at a time, to be paid in full at the end of the season at harvesting. A more expensive item was a can of apricots which sold for $3.20, while a jacket could be secured for only 75 cents. A small list of record- Now lining the wall of Mr. Allens barn, these ed items from the ledger, and benches once lined the old Huntsville their cost, from the hundreds Schoiolhouse during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. The of items that were purchased school used to stand where the current Valley Elementary is now located. reads: Shoes: $ 2.30 in the Valley. He was born in Oranges: $ .25 Huntsville assisted by a mid-wife, a Eggs: $ 1.15 Mrs. Hislop. He graduated from Shoes: $ 1.60 Weber State College from the first, Fork: $ .90 four-year graduating class of 1964. He Barb wire: $17.80 received his degree in Secondary Salmon $ .20 Education with his minor in Life Coat $ 6.00 Sciences. He student taught at Roy Garters $ .10 Junior High School where he also Calico $ .15 taught one year. He taught at Valley Shirt $ 2.00 Junior and Snowcrest Junior High Gloves $ 1.75 Schools for a total of about 17 years, Wash Board $ .25 retiring in ______________. Hat and Tie $ 1.75 Overalls $ .60 He and his wife LaVon have four Raisons $ .25 married children. Scythe $ .75 Mr. Allen has spent most of his life This barn that stands on the Allen property, also, was purchased from Pete Winter (father of Cheryl Holmes of Liberty) in the late 1950’s before the Pineview Reservoir was raised. The barn originally sat near the Jefferson Hunt Camp ground. The raising of the reservoir necessitated its move to higher ground. The government bought the homes and buildings that would be affected by the reservoir and resold them. This barn was purchased by Lyle’s father for a little over $50 and then moved to where it currently stands. The barn was originally constructed and assembled with wooden dowels, with the joint on the top plate aligned directly above the bottom plate that allowed for the dismantling of the barn in sections, and the reassembling, relatively easy. |