Engadine Historical Society
The Engadine Historical Society received a grant in early 2026 to support its inaugural barn tour August 9, 2026, and to document local farm/barn stories. Several barns are featured on the tour. Tourgoers meet at the Garfield Township Hall in Engadine to tour several barns by bus. The day concludes with a meal, a display of barn-building tools, an example of rafter construction, a barn photo display, a short talk by a barn enthusiast and a Q & A. engadinehistorical@gmail.com
Barns in the Engadine area are primarily
gambrel and gable in roofline and many
date to the late
1800s and early 1900s.
Tour planners meet in one of the barns.
Credit: Engadine Historical Society.
Tillers International
To retain their value and usefulness, barns need maintenance. In 2026, Barn Believers teamed up with other donors to support the repair and repainting of the working historic SpringHill Barn on the grounds of Tillers International, Scotts. The barn serves as housing for horses and storage for hay. It is also part of Tillers’ ongoing work as a living laboratory teaching rural heritage skills to students from around the globe.
The 40x60-foot timber-frame English, gable-roof, banked SpringHill Barn was built in the 1870s near Grand Rapids on land acquired by Moses Edison who immigrated in 1841. It was the heart of a thriving cattle and fruit farm for many years. A large boulder on a hill bore the carved name SpringHill because it was there travelers could stop for a cold drink from an artisan well. The three-bay barn features four roof beams, hand hewn, 10-inch square, 60-foot white pine. The walls from loft floor to eave are 20 feet in height with the ridge, 31 feet above the loft floor.
The farm passed through members of the Edison family until the last member to farm the land, Mary (Edison) and husband Arthur Tatrow, sold the herd and leased out the orchards. The barn was empty. When the land was sold, the historic Victorian farmhouse was donated to the City of Walker and moved to become a museum. The barn was dismantled, moved 60 miles to Tillers and rebuilt some twenty years ago for use as part of Tillers’ mission. Some of the original timber-framing had to be replaced but to the fullest extent it has been rebuilt to historical integrity. Current work includes replacing weathered siding and trim, replacing hardware and repainting. For more information, myankee@tillersinternational.org.
Community Farm of Ann Arbor
When trees grow too close to barns they can do significant damage and can cause the loss of the barn. Roots
grow into foundations, limbs tear at siding and roofs. Extensive shade holds moisture and falling limbs damage
barns. A 100+ foot elm was causing problems and had to be removed at The Community Farm of Ann Arbor, Michigan’s
oldest CSA farm. Grant support in 2026 included stump grinding and other tree-related work. The Community Farm,
open to the public, hosts events and donates produce to help food banks, soup kitchens, and health centers.
www.communityfarmofannarbor.com.
Credit:
Community Farm of Ann Arbor.
Hillsdale County Historical Society
Barn Believers’ most recent grant was made in 2025 to help the Hillsdale County Historical Society save increasingly rare Mail Pouch Tobacco advertising from a heritage barn lost to the construction of a Meijers store near town. Meijers donated the siding, which was carefully mounted inside a circa 1859 timber-frame barn on the grounds of the Will Carleton Poorhouse and former poor farm. Barn Believers assisted with the installation of the siding and special lighting. The Society is continuing its work on the historic barn to make it a combination museum and event space.
Michigan Flywheelers Museum, South Haven
Michigan Flywheelers Museum (2017)
Our first grant was made in 2019 to the Michigan Flywheelers Museum for continued work on the Stephenson Barn. The post and beam barn was moved to their grounds some years ago and is used for multiple purposes including displays, events, and sheltering artifacts. It is also available for private events. The Flywheelers host multiple events each year, including Farm History Day, Swap Meet, Kids Lawn Tractor Day and its popular Antique Engine and Tractor Show.
Calhoun County Agricultural & Industrial Society (CCAIS), Marshall
Barn Believers has given two grants to help with the restoration of this rare and historically important granary. The granary was built by Isaac Lockwood, a Marshall Township pioneer, on his farm near Marshall circa 1855. His home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The granary, which shares the same Italian Villa features as the house, was moved just across the road where it was used by the Myron Avery family. In 2020 it was separated into three sections for moving to the grounds of Michigan’s longest running county fair (1848) where it resides beside a historic schoolhouse and across from the fair museum.
What distinguishes this granary from others is that it was mechanized and what makes it rare is not just that it still exists but that it still has all working parts. A committee devoted to the restoration of the granary is making it a working granary again. Original interior flooring, a handicap-access ramp and railing, and commemorative bricks have been put in place. The work continues! More information will be provided in 2026.
Photo by Ron Quinn
Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, Vandalia
While they are called “carriage houses,” in fact, these special structures were barns where both a carriage and the horsepower to pull it were sheltered on the main floor with living quarters above. The carriage houses stood behind homes from the 1700s into the early 1900s. Some remaining today have been given new uses. This 1850-era Gothic Revival barn stands on the historic James Bonine property at M-60 in Vandalia. Bonine and others in Cass County created refuge for African American freedom seekers from the south. Today, the Bonine house and carriage house are central to the URSCC and its work to preserve and honor important local and national history, both that of helping freed slaves and area agriculture. Barn Believers has made three grants to the URSCC since 2022. The first was used to purchase a new lightning protection system for the carriage house. The second replaced windows on the first level and the third grant continues with upper level window replacement. Money is being raised to complete the Carriage House by 2027, including additional work to siding and trim. A hidden compartment on the third floor is believed to have been created to hide people seeking safety.
We congratulate Cathy LaPointe on being chosen by the Underground Railroad Free Press to receive the 2025 Hortense Simmons Memorial Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge for her dedicated research and stewardship of the URSCC.
Bonine Carriage House South side
Photo: Cathy LaPointe
CH 1st floor with freedom seekers wagon.
Mason County Historic Society, Ludington
The Society has used its 2021 grant at its Historic White Pines Village to replace 40 faded signs in the Jorissen Barn which was moved and rebuilt on the grounds in 1976. The barn features displays of farm equipment from the 1850-1900 era, a diagram and images showing the process of coopering (barrel-making), and an array of farming tools. The displays are important to visitors from around the world and figure into educational activities for school children.
Bowne Township Historical Commission, Alto
The Commission sought to raise funds to support the relocation of a barn built circa 1860 to become a Barn Museum of Agriculture. The barn was built by a Civil War veteran, John W. Stone. Owners would have donated the barn and a collection of barn and farm-related tools and implements. Importantly, the barn would have been used to host educational events for children. Barn Believers’ support would have helped with the relocation. The grant was returned in full to Barn Believers Project Fund when sufficient support to save this historic barn could not be raised.
Western Michigan Fair Association, Ludington
Known as the Wing Barn #27, this 1900-era barn is the oldest, original building on the Mason County fairgrounds. The dairy barn was dismantled when donated by the Wing family, moved and rebuilt on the fairgrounds to house harness horses. The integrity of its monitor roof was maintained in the move. Barn Believers’ support assisted with restoration and repainting. The Wing Barn is also part of the Mason County Barn Quilt Trail. Fairgoers and Trail followers by the thousands, see the barn each year.
Historic Adventist Village, Battle Creek
A barn with an unusual life received repairs at Historic Adventist Village in Battle Creek. A grant from Barn Believers in 2023 assisted with repairs needed on doors (seen in photos here), correcting water drainage at the barn’s foundation, and purchasing paint. Known as the Snow Barn, the gable-roof hay barn has been built once, moved, and rebuilt twice in its long life. The English-style barn was first built before 1886 on the Francis Snow property south of Battle Creek. When development encroached, the family donated the barn to the Battle Creek Kiwanis to become part of an intended “Pioneer Homestead.” The barn sat for several years adjacent to Kingman Museum but fearing vandalism when it was not used as planned by the Historical Society of Battle Creek, it was gifted to the Historic Adventist Village. The Village honors the early roots of Seventh Day Adventism in Battle Creek and has thousands of visitors from around the world every year who tour original homes including that of Church founder Ellen G. White, an 1852 log cabin, an 1857 meeting house, and other original or replica structures.
The Snow Barn was “flaked” or sectioned when it was moved the short distance from beside the museum to the village. Currently used for storage and occasional special events, when a new storage building is completed, the barn will used for plays, musical programs and prayer gatherings. Adventist history notes that the barn of Adventist pioneer Jonah Lewis once stood close to where this barn has been placed. It also records, “Jonah went to the haymow of his barn three times a day to pray.” Barns are important to Adventism as places to meet, worship and seek shelter.
Also in pursuit of our mission “To inform and inspire” Barn Believers is:
- Disseminating “Saving Heritage Barns.” Copies have been mailed to individuals and groups in more than 18 states and Canada.
- Responding to inquiries about issues concerning barn owners.
- Making museums and historical societies aware of grant support.
- Teaming up with leaders to consider comprehensive collections work.
- Talking with stakeholders who influence ag education and training.
- Encouraging people who care about barns to work together.
- Getting the word out in a variety of publications and media outlets.
- Responding to media inquiries and assisting with articles for publication.