Historic barn moving to new location

The historic eight-sided barn that overlooks Cathlamet will move to a new location today (Thursday).

A moving contractor has been placing tractor crawlers this week to prepare for the move approximately a half a mile along Greenwood Road.

"They estimate it will take about two hours to move the barn," said Puget Island farmer Fred Stanley. He and his wife, Crystal, bought the barn from Lee Nutter and are moving it to land they own on the far side of Greenwood Cemetery.

"I couldn't stand to see the wrecking ball come," Fred Stanley said Monday. "They were going to tear it down if someone didn't take it. And it has to be on this hill."

Local sources say the two-storey barn was built between 1862 and 1872. The new site will be on the first owner's original farm.

Crews have removed the ground floor and installed huge steel I beams under the second floor. Cables crisscross the space above the second floor.

Stanley and the crew working with him to prepare for the movers, Patrick McKay Beech and Kenneth Anshutz, have marvelled at the 19th century building techniques.

"They used hardly any nails, just the bare minimum," Stanley said.

Huge beams in the foundation are as big as trees; one joins in the center with wooden pegs to keep it secure. A series of connected iron rods goes around the ceiling. Stanley said the barn was originally built around a fir tree, and the rafters were attached to it. The tree, all but the part where the rafters connected, was later removed.

"It's very sturdy," Stanley said. "It is in an exposed location and has withstood many heavy winds."

The Stanleys raise beef on farmland on Greenwood Road, and the barn will support that operation. However, Stanley said they will refurbish the upper floor and make it available for school field trips and community events such as barn dances.

Although the Stanleys paid only $1 for the barn, they'll have invested heavily in it by the time it's relocated. A new ground level floor will cost $21,000, Stanley said, and 60 squares of cedar shakes for a new roof could cost $24,000.

"It's a labor of love," Stanley said.