- [Announcer] The following program is a production of Pioneer Public Television.

(acoustic music) (gentle music) - [Presenter] The Webster Dictionary defines the word "landmark" as an object or structure on the land that is easy to see and to recognize.

Throughout Western Minnesota, you don't have to look too far to see landmarks.

They range from grain elevators to grand courthouses.

But of all the landmarks, there are three most recognized: churches, schoolhouses, and barns.

When you see these landmarks, it is not difficult to feel an emotional connection.

Maybe because they are visual gateways to our memories and to our stories.

They help transport us back in time.

(gentle music) (acoustic guitar music) On a quiet roadside in the country, an old schoolhouse crumbles with the passing seasons.

In the long abandoned building, raw, well-worn school desks line up in tiny rows.

In the front, a blackboard and a faded picture of George Washington complete the scene.

But if you listen closely, you might hear the echo of voices from a time long ago when this place was filled with children.

(children chatting) All but gone now, the rural schoolhouses of Western Minnesota are being more difficult to find.

At one time, they seemed to be located every few miles, usually on a corner of two dirt roads.

As quickly as the school buildings have disappeared, the stories and memories are being forgotten and lost even faster.

(piano music) It's rare to find someone who remembers walking over a mile to school while carrying their lunch in a syrup pail.

Do we even know anyone who actually knows the rules of the recess games of Ante-I-over or Fox and Goose?

Although the era of country school is over and the memories are fading fast, there are some good examples of school buildings being reused and preserved.

Country fairgrounds, historical groups, and unique businesses are all doing their part in saving a small piece of our educational history.

(dramatic music) It has often been said that the life blood of a school is the students.

But without the guiding light that teachers bring, schools would not exist.

In Lac qui Parle County, I had the privilege to sit down with two former teachers and listen to their memories and stories.

One taught for many years and the other, for just a few.

But each had unique experiences that could only have come from teaching in country school.

- My birthday is the 10th of September and I was 17, but you're supposed to be 18 to teach school, so I had to get permission from the superintendent to teach the first two weeks.

- [Presenter] Were you scared your first day at teachin'?

- Very much so.

And I think I was overly strict because of that.

- [Presenter] Oh you, no.

You were not overly strict.

- Because you were totally on your own.

- [Presenter] Well that's true.

- Any problem was yours.

- [Presenter] And then you walked to your school.

- [Delores] Yes, I walked to school.

- [Presenter] With the students?

- Well I was there ahead of time 'cause you had to prepare like that.

- [Presenter] You had to get there early to do what?

- Well to get your classroom ready, and the first year I taught school, I had to make my own fire.

And that was something I had never done, but I didn't burn the schoolhouse down, although I must've been close to it a few times.

I think I loved reading the most because, well, if you can read, you do anything.

And that's important if children learn to read.

- [Presenter] Well said, yes, I agree.

What was the subject that challenged you the most?

- Well I think science did because at that time, we didn't know a lot about science, and it was never one of my favorite subjects.

- [Presenter] Indoor plumbing.

When I say that, what comes to mind?

- Well we didn't have indoor plumbing.

- [Presenter] So what does that mean?

- Well that meant a little trip out to the outhouse.

And you didn't go any more often than you had to.

Well that was another thing you had to keep up.

And you had to inspect it once a while 'cause sometimes, the little boys didn't do what they were supposed to do.

- [Presenter] Overall, good memories?

- Yes, I would do it again.

- [Presenter] Good for you.

- Because it's wonderful when you can spend your whole life doing something you enjoy.

- [Presenter] Ethel, you look great there in the desk.

Do you feel like a student?

- I do sort of.

(laughs) - [Presenter] Did you go to country school?

- I did, I went eight grades to District 96.

I mean here in township, I started school when I was five years old, because I had an older sister who was two years older than me and she didn't like school.

So my mother sent me to school when I was five years old and my first grade teacher said I cried the first day and then I said, "I want my mama" and she said, "I'll be your mother today."

So then she held me in her lap but I can't think it was for very long with eight grades- - [Presenter] And you were five years old?

- [Ethel] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Presenter] Did you walk to school?

- [Ethel] Well actually, we rode our bikes.

- [Presenter] You rode your bikes?

- We would get our bicycle, We'd have our lunchboxes and then we always got a new dress for the first day of school and a new pair of shoes.

So then we'd get on our bikes and ride.

We had to go down a long hill on the way over, but then coming home, we had to go back up the same hill, and I couldn't always get my bike to go, but my sister could.

She could always ride up the hill, yeah.

- [Presenter] So you had to get off and push?

- [Ethel] Well I pushed my bike, yeah.

- [Presenter] Visiting the Lac qui Parle Historical Society in Madison, Minnesota, you may notice a small schoolhouse that was moved onto the grounds, and today is currently being used to showcase a typical country school experience.

What you may not know though is the mystery of the diamond ring.

Etched in the side window of the schoolhouse are the initials DB.

According to legend, a former schoolteacher, Dora Billington, received an engagement ring, and to ensure that it was real, she etched her mark in the window.

The year was 1890.

As I stare at the etched glass, a question comes to mind.

How many other stories are out there, just waiting to be discovered?

(gentle music) In rural Stevens County sits a beautiful, stone school building, built by the WPA that was once District 14, and today is an active and thriving greenhouse business.

Randee Hokanson attended the school in the 1960s and shares her memories of a vanishing American education experience.

- [Presenter] Randee, I am really excited to be here with you in the school of your childhood.

And when you were telling me, it's not only your school, but really, it's your family's school.

- This is true.

It was known at District 14 more commonly.

Then it became later known as the stone school because of the structure and how it was built.

All the stones for it, when they rebuilt the school, were picked off of the farms in the surrounding area, because that was a lean time of farming, in the 1935/36/37 era.

The farmers that picked it off their fields hauled it here to the site, and they were also a part of the building squad then.

My Grandpa Bob was part of the building squad.

He picked stones and then he hauled them over here and then he used 'em to help build the school.

- [Presenter] And they were happy to get rid of those stones out there.

- They were happy to get rid of the stones and they were also happy to have the work, because farming had become a really tough situation in those years.

There were 81 country schools all in operation in the early part of Stevens County history in 16 townships.

They had to be close enough so that children could walk to school, if need be, and so there was a large number of schools.

I've always talked about my experience at a country school because it was such a unique educational experience, and it was one that not everybody in my generation or younger has had at all.

You usually think a country school is people that are much older than me, but I got to have that experience from kindergarten through fourth grade.

- [Presenter] For the past 27 years, Sally Finzel has been the owner of a native plant greenhouse business, known as Morning Sky Greenery.

In 2003, Sally moved her small business into the historic school.

And once again, the building and the site is active and alive.

You're keeping the history of this place.

You're part of that.

- [Sally] Yes.

- [Presenter] Randee was a part of it.

- Yes.

- [Presenter] It's a really neat thing that everybody plays a small role in keeping our landmarks standing.

But what I really like about it, I like your business but I really like the fact that you have it in an old schoolhouse.

- That's what I like about it too.

I wanted to make sure that this building stayed and was here for a long time.

This has worked out very well.

- It's wonderful to see it being reused, and even though I can walk in here and my memories don't match the new look that it has, I am so respectful to the fact that it has a new purpose and that new purpose is still being useful to a lot of people every day of their life.

And I think that's really what a building is all about.

(acoustic music) - [Presenter] On a back road in Cottonwood County, Nancy Gertner has a vision for her childhood schoolhouse.

And through hard work and dedication, is in the process of seeing that dream come true.

- Well we do have family history here because three generations of my family were educated at this school, and there are neighbors, I think in the Root family, I think there may have been three generations that attended this school also.

- [Presenter] You acquired this schoolhouse.

- [Nancy] I did.

- And I want you to take me inside and tell me the vision and what you hope that this landmark for you and for many others here, what's the future for it?

(acoustic music) It's 1966, the schoolhouse closes.

You go to town school.

What happens to the building?

It sits out here, forlorn, or was it used?

Township hall?

- [Nancy] No, I wish it'd been used as a township hall because then the township would've maintained it.

Instead, it became a machine shed.

And in order to be a machine shed, the east wall was removed and the floor was removed.

And so machinery was stored in here for several decades.

- They blew out this whole wall.

- [Nancy] Yes.

- So what happened?

How did you get involved?

You came back home.

- Well my family owned this building and I told my sisters that I would like to take ownership of it and preserve it, and so that's what I did.

So the first step with the preservation was a new roof.

That was put on in 2012.

And the east wall was also rebuilt at that time.

And later on, the sub floor was rebuilt.

My current thinking is that I think I'm going to make it into a camper cabin so it has capacity to be lodging for people that would like to have a rustic experience of being out in the country for a short vacation.

- [Presenter] Almost a bed and breakfast, without the breakfast.

What a cool idea.

An old schoolhouse, closed for many years, and now you're bringin' it back to life.

I love it.

I noticed up here, you've built the whole second level.

- Well the 12-foot ceiling is a little bit lower now than it was before.

And that will accommodate a loft that will have place for bunks for sleeping.

- [Presenter] And who will use it?

- Well according to what I've read, the camper cabin occupants are often three-generation families.

So grandma and grandpa pay for the vacation, they haul along their adult children and the grandchildren.

And so this is an opportunity for people to have a three-generational experience out in the country, if they would like.

And they could bring their camper too if they like to have a camper with them.

(school bell rings) - Maybe the bell at the Shady Nook School has clanged for the last time.

Perhaps the bake sales, spring field trips, and music programs are a thing of the past.

But for at least one former student, those memories don't seem that distant.

Dennis Lidtke attended Shady Nook School for his first seven grades and wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.

So what do you think about Nancy's vision to take this schoolhouse and turn it into a retreat center maybe or camper cabins?

What do you think?

- Yeah, it's a shame to see it go.

Good memories, its history.

Some history to it.

- So many of our schools, as you know, Dennis, have disappeared.

- Right.

- But through the work of local people, yourself, and Nancy and others, we're holdin' onto a little bit of that history.

- Yep.

- [Presenter] And I think you and I agree, it's an important thing to do.

- [Dennis] Yeah.

(acoustic music) (gentle music) - [Presenter] Many of us are familiar with the phrase if these walls could talk, what stories they would tell.

This common phrase becomes real if one listens to the stories and memories of students and teachers of any number of one-room country schools.

(children playing) Just east of Madison, Minnesota, on a small farm, two sisters, Kay and Annette Fernholz, are doing their part in preserving the life of a once active schoolhouse.

In 2007, they had a vision for moving District 63 from its original site, 14 miles away, to their farm, to use it again for education.

I always loved this school.

But what I wanna know, Kay, I wanna know the story.

Why a schoolhouse on your farm?

- [Kay] My sister and I are School Sisters of Notre Dame, and so our big ... what would you say, our specialty is education.

- Now wait a minute, you're sisters and you're Sisters?

- That's right.

We're sisters as in nun, and sisters as in blood.

(laughs) Does that make sense?

- You got it covered, you got it covered, from every angle.

- I think we do.

- I love it.

- And so we kept thinking about the farm was growing as we were having a lot of educational things happening, especially with interns learning how to do gardening and so forth.

But we said we need a center, and we just thought of so many things that possibly (cat miaows) could we use.

And then somebody mentioned that there was the schoolhouse waiting for somebody to take it.

Otherwise, it'd just be torn down.

- [Presenter] Do you think someone else would take it?

- No, they were gonna demolish it.

Somebody else had been offered- - So you saved it?

- We did, we saved it.

And the school itself was physically in very good condition, so that it was worth saving, just from that point of view.

So we talked to whoever the people out there, the powers that be out by south of Madison, the School Board, I think, and we could get it for a whole dollar.

- Wow, for a buck?

- For a buck.

And we wouldn't pass that up.

We scrubbed floors, did all kinds of things to earn that dollar.

- [Presenter] And I bet it didn't cost just a dollar to move it.

- That was the next thing.

- [Presenter] That's another story, isn't it?

- It is, it is.

- [Presenter] Well I wanna see inside.

Can we go on in?

- [Kay] Absolutely.

You can come on in.

- [Presenter] I wasn't all that good of a student so am I allowed?

- You won't have to sit in the corner today.

(laughs) - Alright, I'm on the way.

(gentle music) - We always knew that we came out here as former schoolteachers.

- [Presenter] Both of you were schoolteachers?

- Yes, yes.

So we had that in our genes I guess, so to speak, or we were teachers and I guess they say once a teacher, you're always a teacher.

You always wanna give off concepts.

So we decided to come out here and basically relate to the space of Earthrise Farm.

(gentle music) (soft classical music) - [Interviewer] A small country church is an American icon, a symbol of faith and hope.

These simple structures mirror the lives of hardworking people who once worshiped there.

Many of them no longer hold services, but the buildings help us stay tied to our history.

As one drives the back roads and country lanes of western Minnesota, it's hard not to come across a small, white church with its spire reaching for the clouds.

Yes, these are expected scenes, but they're much more than that.

They are the cornerstones of our communities.

Often, they are the oldest buildings around that reach back and hold the stories and memories of the early pioneers.

(gentle music) When the first settlers arrived in western Minnesota, they brought their faith story with them.

They found opportunities to start a new life, and in many cases, that life was centered on the church.

Even today, many of us find our church roots give us a sense of security, that holds good memories of faith, friends, and family.

These churches remind us of a time when life was simpler, and perhaps better.

A time when church was the anchor of rural life.

(gentle music) Yes, the Spring Creek Lutheran Church is gone, but as I stare across the open field to where the church once stood, and see the rows of granite gravestones in the nearby cemetery, I can't help but feel a sense of the people who once worshiped here.

The church was organized in the fall of 1883 by Scandinavian settlers.

The church closed in 1997, and in the summer of 2007, sadly, the building was lost to a fire, but today, the site is being maintained to help keep story from disappearing.

The memorial and the well-maintained cemetery helps tell the story of those who settled here, and how important the church was for those early pioneers.

Thankfully, today there are people in the community who feel a passion to keep their stories and memories alive.

They have put great effort towards accomplishing this goal.

- Imagine what this place was like in the 1870's.

- It looked probably a whole lot different than it does right now.

- [Interviewer] So there's a lot of rich history here related to Yellow Medicine County, as well as Spring Creek.

- [Woman] Right.

- Isn't it amazing that they started these country churches in homes?

- Yeah.

- And then they eventually built up enough people.

- And enough money to build-- - And enough money to finally get the church built.

And I've heard stories where they've actually mortgaged farms to fund the building of the church.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- And the church was sitting right behind us here, wasn't it?

- Correct.

- Right where the memorial is.

- [Kayann] When the church decided it was gonna have a permanent structure, they chose this donated land over other donated land because it was the highest point in the area.

- So, Kathy, when you come up here, and Kayann, when you walk up on this ground, knowing that your church stood right here, what do you feel?

- [Kayann] This is holy ground, even though there isn't a church here anymore, it still is a sacred place.

(gentle music) - [Interviewer] Near the South Dakota border, the town of Rosen is proud of it's historic Catholic church, St. Joseph.

It is clear that the church is the anchor and the center of this very small rural hamlet, with a population of less than 50 - Before this building, there was a wood church on the same, I believe it was on the same spot.

And then it was, the new church was built in 1907, the present church.

- [Interviewer] And when that was built, that was a pretty big undertaking, even in 1907.

- Yes, it was.

Reading the history, it was a quite an undertaking, and it took a lot of loyal parishioners to help to keep everything going.

- [Interviewer] I always attended this church, lived in this town.

This is so part of you, I can feel it when you're describing this.

It's important to you, isn't it?

- [Gerard] Yes it is, it's the center of the community actually.

You could see it from quite a few miles.

- [Interviewer] Well, it really is a beautiful church, not only on the outside, but the inside, it's breathtaking.

What I really like about your church, and I haven't seen it all yet, I haven't been here that long, but I love the windows.

- [Gerard] The windows were very, very attractive and they all came from Germany.

The ones that donated the windows, and their names are on the bottom of the window, and it's printed in German.

(gentle piano music) - [Interviewer] What is the future of the church here in Rosen?

Where do you see it going?

- Well, I just hope we can keep it going, but you don't know.

- This parish has a lot of young people, so for the time being, it's a more viable parish than some bigger parishes.

You know, it's not just that it's a nice building.

That's kind of superfluous.

The fact of the people, that's what makes it special.

- [Interviewer] When a county values their church history, they do what Betty Mann and her team have done in the town of Laverne.

An entire section of the county museum is dedicated to preserving the stories in pieces of many Rock County churches.

We're sitting in the Rock County Historical Society Museum in Laverne.

- Right.

- And we're in my favorite section of your museum.

(laughs) The church section.

What do you do here at the museum?

- I'm president of the Rock County Historical Society.

- [Interviewer] What you've done here in the museum is pretty important in terms of retaining some of that faith history.

And a lot of these churches have closed or closing.

First of all, how did you acquire some of the artifacts and pieces from these churches?

- [Betty] Well, the churches have donated them to us, and some churches have closed.

Well, several of them are closed and the Kenneth church, when they closed two years ago, gave us all the pieces out of their church because it was sold for a house.

- [Interviewer] So what you've done here, is you've brought those physical reminders into one location.

- [Betty] Right.

- [Interviewer] So I don't have to drive to all these places, 'cause some of them don't even exist.

- [Betty] No, no.

- But I can come here to your museum and get a piece of Rock County history.

Betty, this is a great piece.

- [Betty] This came out of the Methodist Church here in Laverne.

- [Interviewer] Now I notice too the names.

- [Betty] The names were the people who probably donated the money for the window.

- [Interviewer] Have you had people come into this faith section of the museum and say, I went to that church?

- Oh yes, many times.

- [Interviewer] I have good memories of that place.

- [Betty] Oh yes.

- [Interviewer] Then you know you've made an impact, and you've saved a piece of history.

- Right.

- Isn't that what the whole idea of a museum is?

- Absolutely, we can't live in the past, but we need to learn by it.

(gentle piano music) - [Interviewer] North of the town of Westbrook, Minnesota, sits a beautiful country church that is rich in local history, but is alive in the community today.

It sounds like this church was probably one of the first, if not the first church in this area.

- In this county.

- [Interviewer] In this entire county?

- This is the oldest church of any type, of any kind, in this county.

It wasn't until 1882 or three that this building was constructed.

- [Interviewer] So it was Norwegian, German, Swedish, what was it?

- [Michael] Norwegian.

(speaks foreign language) That's how it goes for us, it's Norwegian.

(laughs) - It's the only church I've ever belonged to, where I've always gone.

This is where my husband and I raised our five children, and this is where I went to Sunday School and confirmation, and got married two times in this church.

Basically, this has been our social life.

All the activities in this church are what keep us happy.

If I don't get to church on Sunday morning, I know something's missing.

- When I walk into old Westbrook Church, I notice a lot of things.

But the thing that I really, really notice is this beautiful organ.

- [Art] All through high school and college I was helping build this organ.

It was just a thrill, it was a passion for me, it was a passion for my dad, it was a thrill to do this project.

(organ music) - [Interviewer] As I leave the old Westbrook Church, I leave with a feeling of confidence that this church and local landmark will continue to be an anchor in the area well into the future.

Near the small hamlet of Watson, Minnesota, a tall spired country church as Zion Lutheran made it to Hollywood.

The producers of the movie, Sweet Land, were looking for an ideal country church to be in the movie, and Zion was chosen.

Jim, I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of churches in Minnesota as a photographer.

But your church here at Zion has gotta be in my top 10.

- I love it.

- It is a beautiful, beautiful church.

- [James] Lovely old building.

- [Interviewer] I heard your church made it to Hollywood.

- [James] Yes it did.

It was in the Sweet Land movie.

- [Interviewer] That was a very popular local movie, and they filmed it here?

- Yes, they filmed them playing baseball in the background.

- I remember that scene now.

Right here in the yard?

- Yes, right here.

- [Interviewer] No steps to worry about, right?

- No steps.

- You go ahead.

I'll follow you.

- Okay.

- It's got the smell of a good old church.

- This was the ice cold room at the kids' Christmas programs in the winter time.

Ice cold when you came in here.

This was never heated.

- You had to wait here for your time to go in.

- That, and just coming in and hanging up your coat, going inside.

- Oh, I love it.

You actually ring the bells manually?

- Absolutely.

- [Interviewer] You know what I'm gonna ask you, don't you?

- [James] Go ahead and ring it.

- All right, here I go, Jim.

- [James] Yep, let 'em rock.

(bells chime) - [Interviewer] As you walk down the aisle of an old country church, it's not hard to imagine stepping back in time with the aroma, low light, and warm pews.

It becomes, for a moment, a glimpse into another era.

Here at Zion with its rich history, I can hear the voices from the past.

♪ Take it to the Lord in prayer ♪ I now know why this landmark was chosen for the Hollywood movie.

Zion can also serve as a preservation model for many historical churches that are in a tug-of-war struggle in a rapidly changing world.

With the dedication of a few past members, the now-closed Blue Mound's Lutheran church building and grounds are being maintained.

Even more importantly, the stories and memories of how this small church impacted so many over the years, are being saved.

I imagine there's a lot of memories.

- A very lot.

(chuckles) - When you walk in.

- Yes it is.

- And I know this church a little bit, 'cause I've been hearing stories that there's a really unique story about Blue Mound's Lutheran Church, and I'll you know what I'm talking about.

- Probably the tornado.

- The tornado.

- Or the cyclone.

- [Interviewer] Tornado picks it up, no windows broken.

- No doors jammed.

- It sets it down.

- Perfectly.

- I think you were meant to move.

Great old church you got here.

- [Randy] You betcha.

- [Interviewer] You grew up here?

- I was born in this township, and I was baptized in this church and went to church here until it closed.

- Sad day when it closed, I'll bet.

- You bet, you bet, but 1972.

We have a service now on the third Sunday in September, once a year here.

- You know, that's what I love about these old churches and these buildings.

They have a lot of memories.

- Oh yes.

- They're not just pews and walls and altars.

They're about life, they're about your life, and many others.

- Yes, they are, because when you come here, there's many things here like in the cemetery, family, friends, aunts and uncles and basically that's what this whole place it kind of taught a person faith, family, friends, and it just sticks with you.

- [Interviewer] Well said.

(soft violin music) On a quiet road in Cottonwood County, Amo Lutheran is working hard to stay open by using any and all methods, including modern technology.

The story of Amo should make us all thankful that their roots go deep, and to give up and close the church door is not an option, at least for now.

To stay active, stay open, stay vibrant to the community, you had to be creative, haven't you?

- Yeah, and it all happened from month to month, and year to year.

Our numbers were getting less.

We were having trouble keeping a pastor, so we didn't know what to do, and we decided that whatever it took, we would do that.

- [Interviewer] So you used the internet, pipe in one service a month.

- Yeah.

- That's awesome.

- The people we still have here love coming to church.

When you have a beautiful interior, and that keeps us going, I think.

- [Interviewer] And I hope you guys stay open for a lot longer, but I think with your creative methods, I'm not worried about Amo.

It's gonna be here.

- Well, we'll be here for awhile anyway, and if we're not, well, that's not the end of the world.

(organ music) - [Interviewer] It would've been easy to disband and quit after the tragedy that fell upon Hock Creek Lutheran Church, but a strong sense of faith and community would not allow it.

We have all heard the phrase, "It's always darkest "before the dawn," and these words seem to echo true for the folks near the small town of Sacred Heart, Minnesota.

This was in the original church?

- Yes.

- That sadly, in 2016, had a fire.

- It was destroyed.

It was a lightning strike.

Nobody got hurt, and for that we're thankful.

One of the things that we were able to preserve was the foundational piece of the old church, it was the sill of the main floor of the church, and we turned it into a cross.

- Something good comes out of the ashes, and we have this beautiful new home church, and we're very happy with it, very proud of it.

- [Interviewer] Pastor Dan, you have a very interesting musical talent.

- I learned how to play the saw when I was about nine years old.

The first time I heard it, I just kind of dismissed it as magic, and so I asked the gentleman if he could teach me.

This was in Japan when I was a missionary kid there.

So he said, yeah, come on by, and I'll be glad to give you a lesson.

And that's the way it all started.

Well, Hock Creek has allowed me to share the gospel with my saw to other churches, and then we have a LEFSA ministry so I tie the two together.

The building has a lot to do with where we come together, we gather, and we praise God in this place.

There's a lot of history behind that building and behind that place, and we thank God for all of those things.

But it's much more than the building.

That's where I realized the church is the people.

(quiet music) - What is it that makes many of us interested in old barns?

Is it our rural roots?

Is it our desire to go back in time?

Or is it our fear that many are disappearing from the landscape.

Whatever your reason, barns are a mirror to the past.

Drive any country road in Minnesota and you'll be sure to see these rural icons in various conditions.

Some well-maintained, and others sadly nearly gone.

In the past few years, there's been great effort to save and preserve these special buildings.

And thanks to this effort, we all hope that at least some of them will be standing well into the future.

(quiet music) (thoughtful music) Barns can be local landmarks and near the Pipestone County line, Dave and Marlyce Logan have done an excellent job keeping their barn standing as a local historic landmark.

- What a fantastic barn.

- It's a quite a nice barn, that's for sure, yes.

- Driving from Pipestone north, it's a landmark.

- Yeah.

- And how long have you guys been here?

- We bought the place about 10 years ago.

- So you're kinda new to the farm.

- Yeah, new to the farm, yeah.

I think if you look at the abstract, it goes back into the late 1800s.

- How old is the barn?

- Well, that barn right there was built in 1931 and after the fire that burned the barn down, the one that was there before, so the first barn, I don't know when it was built, but I suppose in the '20s.

Back then they farmed with horses and cattle and dairy and all that sort of thing.

- Dave, what I really love about your barn, I mean, look at the color.

Shouldn't every barn be red?

- Barn red, that's a fact of fact the name on the paint bucket is barn red.

- Serious?

- Yeah, that's what we call it, yeah.

- When did you paint it?

- I actually just got it painted.

- Yesterday?

It looks brand new.

- It was just about yesterday.

It was probably painted about a month ago.

- I am dying to see the inside.

- Sure, sure.

- So let's go in and take a look.

- Okay, great.

(quiet music) - Dutch doors.

- Yeah, right.

- I like it, that's authentic.

Wow.

I've never seen a barn so clean.

- It's clean, yeah, we did clean, we try to keep it fairly clean.

It's hard when you're using it, it's hard to keep it clean, but it's nice to have it look decent.

- Right.

- Floor is nice concrete, not big cracks.

- Back when the Stertaman's supported this concrete here, actually they used it for a garage for cars.

So they raised this up.

You can see that this is a lot higher than a lot of barns would be.

- And you know what it tells me, Dave?

Barns are adaptable.

- Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah.

- If we're creative enough to think about it.

Don't tear an old barn down.

Save it, adapt it, and use it.

- There's a lot of things you can use this for.

- And that's what you have done here.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I can't wait to go upstairs.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Now, do you call it a haymow or a hayloft?

- Haymow.

- I'm a mow guy, too.

- Yeah, I think that just seems like the right thing to say.

- Every other person, hayloft.

- Some people say hayloft, yeah.

- Wow.

This is magnificent.

What a beautiful, big barn.

Traditional hip roof barn.

Look at how it's made.

I love it.

It's demential lumbar, two pieces.

The one from the knee wall here, halfway to the hip.

And then the other one going to the peak of the tight end with braces, super.

Before leaving the Logan barn, Dave was proud to show me an award his barn had one.

In 2009, the state-wide barn preservation group known as the Friends of Minnesota Barns, named Dave and Marlyce's barn Barn of the Year.

After seeing the barn and hearing the stories, I fully agree with their choice.

(violin music) Maybe to oldest barn in Chippewa County, the Swenson Barn, is a great example of a mid-to late 19th century grain and dairy barn.

Olof Swenson and his family built the barn by hand on the country estate and today, thanks to the efforts of the county historical society, we can all catch a glimpse of rural life of the early pioneers.

(gentle violin music) We're in this incredible barn.

You know, every time I come out here, and I've been out here a number of times, every time I come out here I feel like I'm stepping back in history.

- Yes, that's what we try to do with all of our sites, both at the historic Chippewa City and here is to have people have an experience of going back in time to what our agricultural history is like.

- And you feel it here.

- Yes.

- There's a feeling here.

And as we stand in this historic barn, and I've seen a lot of barns, you know, I'm a barn guy, this is one of the best.

What a great example of an early 19th century, or a 19th century historic barn, post and beam.

It looks straight.

Now, I'm not an engineer, but it looks like it's in really great shape.

And it was designed for what form of agriculture?

What was Olof doing?

- Olof was a farmer.

He was growing crops and he has his horse teams that could come through here.

The double ramps, there are two ramps on this and my understanding is there was only a dozen like that in the entire country that are left with the double ramps.

He grew wheat and corn and oats and all those things and processed it.

He actually started his own grist mill.

He was trying to put a little company called Pillsbury out of business.

- Oh, little Pillsbury.

- Little Pillsbury that was starting down in Granite Falls.

He didn't quite survive that, but he did have his own following and his own brand for a short time.

- Well, I'm excited to see the downstairs or the basement.

That's where he would have had his livestock.

- Right.

(quiet piano music) - I love the stonework.

- The stones are all quarried down by in Granite Falls, which is about seven mile from here, and fieldstone brought here by horse and wagon and then hand split by Olof and his daughter, Catherine.

They mainly built the foundation of this barn.

It took them about 10 years to do it.

- I love that his daughter did it.

- And his daughter, Catherine, yes, Katie.

- In conclusion, I don't think we should talk about his barn without mentioning someone that really played an important role, your former director, June Lynne.

- June Lynne is the reason this barn is still here.

This was her baby.

She loved this place.

She loved the Swenson farm.

- June's no longer with us, but she is.

- She is, she is in this barn.

Her spirit is here, definitely.

(piano music) (acoustic guitar music) - In rural Lac qui Parle County, Paul and Jane Baldwin's barn is a fine example of a Midwest barn that was common throughout America not too many years ago.

Did you grow up here?

- No, I grew up eight, 10 miles from here on a farm.

I had helped milk with my dad and then I quit milking with the cities, met my wife and came back here and we, one needed a place to live and this place was for sale.

A friend of mine told me about it, he knew I was kind of a dairy man, so he told about (mumbling), we ended up buying it.

- You fell in love with the place.

- Yes, we did, with the barn.

(acoustic guitar music) How old do you think the barn is?

- It was built in 1929, according to the records.

- Well, that was a pretty important year.

You remember what happened in '29?

- Start of the Depression.

- Yeah.

How many cows did you milk in the barn?

- There was 28 stations in the barn here and at our peak we milked about 42 I think it was.

I would fill it up, milk and turn them out, I'd bring in another bunch and fill it back in and the continue to milk.

- Paul, that's a full-time job.

- It was.

Kept us busy.

- Did it?

- Yeah.

- Did Jane help you?

- No, not really.

(laughing) She'd call, we need some butter, tell the milkman.

(laughing) - I get it, I get it.

(quiet music) So when I see a lot of these barns about your size, they don't have cows in them anymore.

- No.

You know, that's something that bothers me, well, it don't bother me, but to drive through the country and I see a lot of these barns, older barns kind of leaning over and looking side, I think the life that come out of them.

- Yeah.

- Baby calves, baby pigs, no more.

- Oh, absolutely.

- It's all, that lifestyle is gone in America.

- Yeah, now it's factory.

- But you know what, it's great to talk to you because you lived it, worked it, it was part of your life.

- Well, we just enjoyed it.

Get kind of old, yeah, but I mean, it'd give you a purpose to get up every morning and there was a check every month.

- Although not farming today, they maintain their barn and when opportunities come along, they have used it for some unique and special events.

You've done some interesting things in this barn.

Not only worked it with the cows and all, but up here in the haymow, besides storing hay, you guys had a Christmas event up here.

- Yes, we did.

The year 2000.

Somehow a brainstorm came to me and I was, you know, I maybe I should bring up that they can have the Christmas program this year in our barn.

It really was really memorable day.

- I bet.

So your decision in 1969 changed your life.

You have no regrets?

- No, no regrets at all, no.

Family, church, home, that's kind of what it's about.

(quiet music) (acoustic guitar music) - Many of us are intrigued with round barns, but most have never been inside one.

In central Ottertail County, a 1913 round barn sits along a country road.

The locals call it the Erickson Barn.

Let me ask you, has it always been red?

- As far as I know it has.

- So you think that even on the day it was completed, they put red paint on it.

- Yeah, I think so because even back then I think red paint was the cheapest paint you could buy.

- It was, it's one of the reasons barns are painted red.

It was an inexpensive paint.

What was the idea of a round barn?

- Well, internally if you take a look at it, it was designed primarily to feed cows on the inside round ring.

There are two rings of cows in this barn, where a lot of these round barns only had one ring.

- I've never seen a two-ring round barn.

- This is a two-ring round barn and the inside circle, when they just had 12 cows, worked very nicely because they could feed from the soddage and they didn't have to walk that far, so it worked out very well.

- So efficiency was the principle reason why round barns were built.

- I think that was probably the thought.

- Is it true, Chuck, when the cows come into the barn, they know where to go?

Their station.

- Most of them until, they have to be there for probably a month.

- Okay.

- You know, you bring in a heifer that's just fresh and she sometimes and that got a little hairy with some of them because all they did was keep going around, ring around the rosie.

(laughing) - So you had what kind of cows in here?

- We had Holsteins.

- Okay.

- Pure bred Holsteins.

- Do you remember when electricity came to your barn?

- Had to be just right at 1940, something when REA moved into this area.

- Sure.

- I think it was just before the war really got going.

- What kind of wood are the beams?

- Tamarack and if you'll notice they're from original building from some sort and we don't know where they originally came from.

But they had been before, so this is a recycled barn if you wanna call it that.

- How do you know that?

- Well, you look at the pegs that were up there.

There's no reason for them to be pegged and holes drilled and notched and so on and so forth.

- Oh, sure, that makes sense.

Well, it's an incredible barn.

I never get tired of seeing round barns, but yours is unique because of the double ring.

Your barn was built at the time that historians believe was the Golden Age of agriculture.

And all the round barns in Minnesota that I have seen, and I've seen most of them, were built between 1900 and 1925.

And you guys fall right in the middle of that.

- 1913.

- 1913, Perfect.

(acoustic guitar music) (thoughtful music) Along a lonely county line road separating Big Stone and Stevens Counties, is one of the most unique barns in the state.

Built in 1923 by a trained German stone mason, this incredible structure still stands today.

Your great-grandfather.

- Yes.

- Your grandfather.

- Right.

- Built this amazing barn.

I'd love to see it.

Will you guys show it to me?

- Absolutely.

- The two boys and their dad built this place.

- Two boys and the dad built it by hand?

- By hand one rock at a time.

- Well, the roof went.

- Well, the elements have been after the poor thing for quite a while.

- Is that right?

- Totally took the roof off.

- What years was that?

- Right around 2000, '99, 2000, somewhere in there.

- Tell me about the barn.

What was his inspiration to build the barn?

- Well he knew he needed a building here for the cows.

In Germany, that's what they built everything out of, stones and concrete.

- So he was trained.

- Oh, yeah, and he knew what he was doing.

- And you were telling me earlier, he had a really unique way of testing the quality of the cement.

- Oh, yes.

- How did he do that?

- He would taste it.

He would taste it on his tongue.

- He could tell by the taste.

- He could tell how strong the cement itself was in there.

(thoughtful music) When my grandfather, or when my uncle passed away, he had like 38 black Percherons.

- That's a big horse and that's a lot of them.

- That's a lot of horses, yes.

- This is amazing.

The ceiling is even concrete.

- The ceiling is concrete, everything is concrete.

The only thing that is wood is frames for doors or windows.

Everything else is concrete.

- These are drinkers for the cattle and the horses.

And the water was stored upstairs and it all came down with pipes and these also would not run over because of the design my grandfather brought from Germany that no one can figure out yet today.

- They would fill this, they would never overflow.

- No, no, no.

- As we go upstairs to see the haymow, it is still hard for me to believe or understand how one man and two boys constructed this amazing landmark in 1923.

I notice these little towers.

Are these for ventilation?

- These towers are for ventilation and what they're for is it allows the heat to rise or the air to move throughout the barn in the basement so you don't get stale air.

- Well, like I said, he left a mark in the community.

- Oh, boy, did he ever.

- And I've seen a lot of barns, but nothing like this.

This is really a treasure.

(thoughtful music) As the sun sets on another day, I leave the stone barn to weather another Minnesota winter.

I wonder how long this landmark will stand.

However long that is, I am so glad I was able to meet the family and hear their story.

(thoughtful music)