Updated: Wednesday, 23 Jun 2010, 12:26 PM CDT Reporter: Becky DeVries
TOWN OF CHASE, Wisconsin - Barns are a part of the landscape here in the midwest, and in many places add beauty to the landscape. In the case of one barn in Oconto County, quite a bit of history.
In the Town of Chase you might say there is something of a treasure hiding in plain site.
"It really goes and takes us back to the earliest history, to the days of the first settlement of the town," said Chris Jaworski, who is on the Town of Chase park committee.
"I guess this is, this is a focal point for that family, my father's mother and dad," explained Dean Krause. "This is where they were."
In the Town of Chase, is a settlement Dean Krause's great grandfather had a hand in.
Daniel Krause had the stone barn built in 1903.
In the Town of Chase you might say there is something of a treasure hiding in plain site.
"It really goes and takes us back to the earliest history, to the days of the first settlement of the town," said Chris Jaworski, who is on the Town of Chase park committee.
"I guess this is, this is a focal point for that family, my father's mother and dad," explained Dean Krause. "This is where they were."
In the Town of Chase, is a settlement Dean Krause's great grandfather had a hand in.
Daniel Krause had the stone barn built in 1903.
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| Bob took us to the barn!
"To lay that stone and build this barn, I can't imagine how long it took, because you only can go up so high, or the stones'll fall out," said Dean Krause, great-grandson of Daniel Krause. "And you've got to go and go and go, day by day, to go all around this. I mean it is a piece of work, just labor-intensive. And the stones, they must have went all over the county for the stones."
"What's odd about it is it's one of the only all fieldstone barns that we know of in the state of Wisconsin. The big question is why did they build it this way. As near as we can figure, it was just an idea that the Krause family brought from the old country, something they saw in Germany that they wanted to replicate here," said Jaworski. The barn has changed hands over the years, ultimately ending up property of the Town of Chase a few years ago. Officials are working on restoring it, and believe it will cost around $430,000. Nearly half of the money has been raised. They hope to the rest of it in the next two years. "We think that this is going to be a park site that other communities would be jealous of. We're gonna have a park site like no other town will have. This is more than just a metal pole building, this is part of the early history of the area," said Jaworski. "I think this barn is just a tribute to those early settlers to the area that made Chase and the Pulaski Sobieski area all it is today." A stone barn, built in 1903, once belonged to one family, now being restored for families now, and in the future. The Chase Stone Barn is on the national and state register of historic places. A picnic Saturday at the Chase Town Hall will be the latest effort to raise money for the restoration. Click here for more information . |
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| Bob and me stuck in the mud at the barn! |
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