James Purdy's dream of recreating the octagon barn he saw as he traveled through Iowa near the turn of the twentieth century became a reality in Michigan's Thumb region, and today his barn is the centerpiece of a center showcasing Michigan's rural agricultural history.
We visited the barn because of my fascination with unusual architectural structures, and this building, beautifully restored and maintained by The Friends of the Octagon Barn, didn't disappoint.
The rescued barn and its agricultural museum gives visitors a real sense of the historical importance of agriculture in the area, but I also discovered that Purdy helped rescue the future of many families by proposing and lobbying for legislation that led to establishing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to safeguard bank depositors' money.
Purdy was president of the Bank of P.C. Purdy and Son in Gagetown, Michigan, when it became one of the few Michigan banks to remain solvent during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Purdy joined a group of Michigan bankers who persuaded Senator Arthur Vandenburg to introduce legislation that led establishing the FDIC to help restore investors' shattered confidence in the U.S. banking system.
Purdy and his family lived on the farm, about 35 miles east of Bay City and one mile east of the Village of Gagetown, during the 1920s and throughout the dark years of the Great Depression.
In 1919, Purdy hired local builders John and George Munro to build a 15-room, Craftsman-style bungalow on his farmland. He moved there with his wife Cora and two daughters in 1922.
The home was luxurious for rural Michigan at the time, featuring three full bathrooms, a built-in ice box in the kitchen, and a large covered porch that the family used for parties and dancing when entertaining guests.
In 1923, Purdy hired the Munros to build the octagon barn, and they enlisted the help of the local high school principal and math teacher to help with the calculations they needed to master to construct the barn.
Round, or octagon barns, were popular in the U.S. from the mid-1880s until 1920. Advocates said they were cheaper to build than rectangular-shaped barns of similarly sized area because the circular shape offered a larger surface-to-area ration. Centrally located silos could help support the barn's roof while minimizing labor required to feed animals, and many felt simplified construction and lack of an elaborate truss system made the barns structurally stronger.
Purdy's barn has an 8,600-square-foot ground floor and a 5,700-square-foot loft. The barn rises to a height of 70 feet at the tip of its weather vane, and each side measures 42-1/2 feet long by 24 feet high.
The 14-foot by 14-foot doors on the east and the west ends were open during our visit, allowing a cross-ventilating breeze to cool the barn on hot days.
Multiple windows at different levels and angles originally allowed plenty of light into the barn while minimizing the chance of prolonged direct sunlight setting fire to hay stored there. The filtered light makes taking photos inside of the building a bit tough, but on the quiet day we visited, the diffused lighting lent a serene air to the building's interior.
The Purdys lived at the farm until selling it in 1942. Subsequent owners sold off parts of the land until just 80 acres remained when it fell into the hands of a bank in 1990.
In 1991, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources purchased the land to connect two separate parcels of the Gagetown State Game Area.
The DNR wanted to remove or demolish the deteriorated house and barn from the property, but local residents organized to save the structures.
A former owner placed the barn on the Michigan Registry of Historic Sites in 1977, so the state could not destroy it. The citizens' group began raising money and negotiated with the state to allow them to restore and maintain the site as an agricultural museum and educational center.
The Friends added several buildings at the farm over the years, including a one-room school moved there from nearby Sebewaing in 2005.
Members of the Friends serve as museum docents and on-site caretakers, opening the site to the public from May through October. A two-day Fall Family Days festival draws 15,000 visitors each year for farming and craft demonstrations, homemade food, music, and more.
For another look at Michigan's agricultural history, check out my story Port Oneida Rural Historic District celebrates northern Michigan's agricultural heritage.
Want to learn more? Check out Barn Building: The Golden Age of Barn Construction by Jon Radojkovic, which includes a short section about the Thumb Octagon Barn, or The American Barn by Randy Leffingwell.
© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved
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