Round Barn - Mullinville Kansas
The Round Barn - Mullinville Kansas
While they were much more costly to build, round barns were long ago once preferred over the standard-shaped ones. Technology has made it so that these types of barns are no longer needed, but the ones that are still standing, such as the Fromme-Birney “Round” Barn, are still a site to behold, because of their unique architecture and rarity.
Henry W. Fromme contracted German immigrant William “Pat” Campbell, working as a local carpenter, to construct a round barn in 1912. He planned to use it to house his twenty-eight draft horses and registered Percheron stallion, an import of France. The cost of this “round” barn was estimated to be close to $8,000, a cost several thousand dollars higher than that of a standard barn.
Round barns were preferred by some as they were more wind-resistant and used the space inside much more efficiently. This particular barn is not actually round, but sixteen-sided, standing fifty feet tall and seventy feet in diameter. The number sixteen appears frequently in its construction, as the domed roof is double-pitched and topped with a sixteen-sided cupola along with a six and a half foot weathervane. In the center of the barn is a sixteen-sided sixteen foot in diameter granary, encircled by a thirteen foot wide wagon area. This leaves fourteen stalls around the outside walls that are fourteen feet long. Originally the exterior of the bar was white with a green roof. It stood as a landmark in the area and often used in this manner for training World War II bomber navigators.
Shortly after the Fromme-Birney “Round” barn was constructed, the working horse was replaced by the tractor as a farm power source, leaving the barn to then be used for storing hay. Phyllis Birney was given the barn and an acre of land as a fifteenth anniversary gift from her husband Lawrence in the 1980s. She then had it listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its architectural significance.
In 1993 Birney gave the barn to the Kiowa County Historical Society and had it restored to its original colors with the help from individual donations and a Heritage Trust Fund Grant from the Kansas State Historical Preservation office. All 2000 metal roof hip shingles were made to look like the originals with the same floral pattern. Inside, restored in the memory of Henry W. Fromme’s son, Moritz, are displays of other round barns, and life in the area circa 1912.
Visitors are now welcome at the Fromme-Birney “Round” barn which is located three and a half miles south and one and three quarter miles west of Mullinville, Kansas. While it is open daily, there is no admission fee, yet donations are always accepted. It is also available for rental for local events.
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This was a nice side trip for a long wide open space ride across Kansas. We are used to this kind of landscape as we are from Nebraska. You really need to advertise more if we had not stopped at the truck stop and seen the sign we wouldn’t have known about this wonderful piece of history. The big horses remind me of my father. GREAT experience Thanks
I personally got to meet the wife of Henry Fromme at my job and i overheard her talking about the round barn so i got on the internet did some research and found a couple different web sites with info on the barn. I pack my family up and we all went to the barn it is an amazing site to see and i agree with the above comment there needs to be more advertizeing if you didnt know it was there you would never get to see it. If you are around southwest kansas this is a MUST SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even my little ones loved it. Its a true work of art and all by hand no power tools amazing!!!!!!!!!