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Lehi Barns Lehi, Utah County " MAY {' C l"T .UI PRESS ASSOCI..\ TIO;\' Clipping Sen-ice Phon~ : [phone] LEHI FREE PRESS Barns were once symboil l!!c~~~~~ocial status Barns, like the fine old structure pictured above, once played an important role in the early lifestyle of Lehi folk. With lofts filled to the rafters with richly aromatic grus or alfalfa hay, bam. were central to the life of hOrNS and waaon., menand boys, and mice if you really want to be specific. While most of the Sanborn Map. of early Lehi depict a bam or stable on most Iota, the 10 remaining barns about town are generally kept for nostalgic reasons - none of them are currently used for hay storage. , Barns, like any other relic of a generation, tell us a good deal about our eiviljzation. At. each generation h~'play8d out ita'role in hi.tory,1O goes the buildings and lifestyle associated With it. ' 'The genel'8tion that built the first. barris in Lehi is' sleeping on cemetery hill. 'The two subsequent generations that used them are fast fading. But for a few of us "younger ones: the days when barns were used is not entirely forgotten. Barns used to be the focal point about which all activity circulated. Here draft animals were groomed, watered, fed, and housed. In connected enclosures or nearby out· buildings, prize heifers, hop, rams, and chickens, and farm implements, all necessary to the farmer's way of Leh-. Yesteryears life, were housed from the elements. Boys, with a leg up on both manhood and future farmerhood, were IChooled in bams. Here they learned to harnell teams, "f'ark- manure, Iqueeze a steady, stream of milk from a cow'. uniiiehtion8bles, and discovered that Sunday's chicken could run about the barnyard without its head. Boys allO gathered to the barn and its hay 10ft to weave dreams, dilCUl. the unknown elements of procreation, and to form bonds with blood from a finger. Some, if not most, even sampled the forbidden enticements madetaboobythe Word of Wisdom. A nervous puff or two from a cigarette or a quick nip from a purloined bottle seemed almost to be an initiatory ceremony into the mysterious cult of manhood. • Menfolk alao liked to gather at the barn. Not to gollip, of course, but to discuss such matters as politics, crops, the price of beef, and other down-to-earth topics not cov- \ ered in any Sunday SehOOlles:Jn. See YESTERYEARS OD Page 3 streets he would fiie up' hflJ~St:Wr then hook,up the straw-filled sled. A couple of rounds about the neighborhood soon had the sleigh full of .....1" ... 4"... 1' ... :..3_ ' : 1.. - _ _ 'as built on the Lehi Bench by James M. c' Images. The Kirkham barn, pictured above with its gambrel roof with two slopes on each side, the lower chine, is often covered with a nonC1e- . script blue plastic tarp or a practical roof which conveys absolutely nothing of the owner's character or industriousness. , If you are interested in a close look at the grand old barns ~ti1l remaining in the Lehi area you will want toconsiderthefollowine:three the turn 0 South). In addi I will list t historical1 remainin! 323S.100 441 W. ~ (lumber): - .~esteryears---------------------=ontinued from front page UesHd was the f,armer who had a ack room, separate and private. luch an edifice was highly prized Dr men to secret themselves from he ears of women and children. During the heyday of barns, the It ructurewasastatussymbolmuch LS the automobile and the house I8Camelater.Afamily'sstandingin ,h e community was sometimes mealured in relation to the quality and lize of their barn. A large, cavernnls one could easily atone for those IVith a questionable or shady back~und and likewise a small bam :ould mean that a family lacked liscipline, was inclined to laziness ,r perhaps even slept late, a cardital sin in a farm community like lAhi. The bam most memorable to me Nas that of my neighbor Jean .. f'hillips. Until recently, when his Ilealth failed him, Jean still put up Iti. hay the old fashioned way using I derrick and a large clam-fork. I !rained much of my farm lore from Itim. I thinned his sugar beets, harvested his com, and cleaned out his corrals. I even learned themeaningofthe word steer from him. One fall day as we crossed a barbed wire fence in the New 'Survey he warned: "Be careful Richie, don't make yourself a steer." What I remember best about Jean's farm vehicles was the huge bobsled he kept behind the barn. When winter's icy grip glazed Lehi's streets he would fire up his tractor then hook up the straw-filled sled. A couple of rounds about the neigh· borhood soon had the sleigh full of ~leeful kids like me. I remember with great fondness ~ow he liked to gun the tractor in a .ightcircle at each intersection. This !aused the sled to make a dramatic nconion that thrilled us all in those ang ago days of our youth. Time and weather have taken a oil on the 10 historic barns remab· :1g in Lehi. Some stand straight, This impressive Lehi barn was built on the Lehi Bench by James M. Kirkham. others tilt or lean with the wind. And while their usefulness has waned along with the two·holer outhouse, buggy, and chicken coop, they still evoke strong aesthetic images. The Kirkham barn, pictured above with its gambrel roof with two slopes on each side, the lower steeper than the upper, greatly i:n· pressive my wife's Jordan High School art teacher. He brought the class to Lehi to sketch the farm structure in the early 1960's when it was owned by the Nuttall family. The day of the noble bam has given way to progress and efficiency. Fewfarmers today have barns. Th'?ir hay crop, now neatly bailed by ma· chine, is often covered with anonde· script blue plastic tarp or a practi. cal roof which conveys absolutely nothing of the owner's character or industriousness. If you are interested in a close look at the grand old barns still remaining in the Lehi area you will want toconsiderthe following three structures, all worthy .of inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places: a portion of the 1872·built Lehi Ward Tithing Office bam now owned by Bruce and Dina Webb (651 N. 200 East), blacksmith Joseph .J. Smith's 1882·built bam now o~ned by Lee and Joy Smith (north bench area), and the "Candy Tom" Sm ith adobe bam, built just prior to the tum of the century (411 W. 100 South). In addition, for posterity's sake, I will list the addresses of the other historically significant barns still remaining in Lehi: 381 S. 100 West; 323 S. 100 West; 350 W. 200 North; 441 W. Main; 411 W. 100 South. ( (lumber); 550 W. 900 North; 1126 N. GOO East, and RFD 435 (West Main near Saratoga Road). '