The Cow Barn Story

A brief history, a drop in the bucket of the rich, abundant history that is Cow Barn…

Odella and Albert Saulsbury built Cow Barn. Construction was completed in 1911. The couple made their home in town and did not live at the farm while it was active dairy. Their wealth was accomplished from success In Saulsbury Brothers vegetable processing. Cow Barn dairy was an attempt to diversify. Unfortunately, the very first heard had to be euthanized due to contraction of hoof and mouth disease. Cow Barn went through a few alternate business endeavors including scrapple making. The purchase of a new 150 pound pressure cooker seemed promising, but overnight the meat drippings fell upon the motor and the new machine exploded and the scrapple house was a total loss. Cow Barn became storage for many years. When the Great Depression hit, Odella and Albert lost many of their homes and businesses in town. It was then when the family removed the silos and created two residences.  Odella developed the grounds into beautiful gardens and established a very prosperous business - florist, nursery, and gardens. It became a popular gathering place and she supported three generations with this lovely pursuit. Fast forward, Cow Barn became the place to celebrate special occasions – long before we bought it in 2018. We are honored to carry on… 

When you visit Cow Barn, imagine standing in the approximately 90’x40’ loft, filled with loose hay. Look to the peak of the ceiling – nearly 35‘ up. You will see the track at the highest point. Find the trolley on the track that carried the hay hook which brought the hay, hoisted up by a pulley system, and carried through the high doors on either end of the loft and dropped to fill the loft to the top of the hay chutes – the two tower type structures in the center of the loft. Cow Barn is unique in that the ramp provided another way to fill the loft with hay - horse power .