Barn’s Days are Numbered
The old red barn located in the alley north of Cherry Street between North Chestnut and North Arch streets will come down soon, Fire Chief Tim Hall told village council members at Monday’s meeting.
The owner of the partially collapsed structure is in the process of removing items from the building before it is razed, Hall said.
The large barn, constructed after the 1888 county atlas was published, was reportedly used as a tobacco warehouse during the heyday of the local tobacco and cigar era.
By the 1960s, the barn was home to a used furniture and secondhand store operated by Clarence Straight, who lived at 409 North Chestnut Street, immediately to the west of the structure.
Brian McClelland, lifelong Cherry Street resident, remembers that when he and his twin brother, Brad were young, the building proved to be major attraction for the boys of the neighborhood including the Hoskinson brothers, Butch Ralston, Tom Sowers and Kevin Welch.
“Straight often chased us off waving hedge trimmers while threating to “cut off boys’ ears,” McClelland said.
Like many old utility structures, large and small, the usefulness of the old red barn has passed, it’s condition unsafe, and it days numbered.
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