Town of Ira historian Dorothy Southard has compiled a historical look at the barns in her county. This is the second in a series on buildings that have become an iconic sight throughout this rural town.

Early in the 20th century, a group of men went around northern Cayuga County building barns and remodeling the old barns for more modern use. Modernization included more cows, milking machines, milk coolers, feed grinders, electricity and water pumps. After World War II, came barn cleaners, silo-unloaders, hay dryers, bulk milk tanks, more cows, more elaborate water systems, hot water heaters, sinks, racks for milking utensils and milk cans, bigger vacuum pumps and pipeline milking systems.

Once a week, you took the milking equipment apart for a thorough cleaning in hot water and cleaner. Rubber teat cups/liners were checked for cracks, sponginess and lost shape. If found damaged, they were replaced with new ones.

Sometimes a chicken house was constructed to house larger flocks and in some cases pigpens were on the ground level so the pigs could go outside and run around. The chickens were confined to the inside of their buildings.

On the former John Van Doren farm was a set of buildings that formed the shape of the letter U. The dairy barn went north to south with the milk house next to it on the south end between a smaller barn that had the chicken house on the second floor; a small machinery storage is on the first floor.

Another dairy barn went west from the north-south dairy barn. Both dairy barns had hay storage overhead. A silo was on the north end of the north-south barn, a tobacco/machinery shed ran north to south from the west end on the east-west barn.

Today when you pass this main north-south dairy barn on Southard, you will notice it has three layers of siding like an old house would have. North of this main barn is a small barn that houses a granary and corncrib with room for a regular size car. Upstairs in this barn, Van Doren stored lumber.

A second granary was housed in another small barn north of the corncrib/car garage. The tobacco shed, east-west dairy barn and chicken house are mostly gone now. The barnyard was open to the south in the U-shaped complex of barns. Sunshine kept the barnyard warm and dry.

A little farther south on Southard Road, Mr. Hrib planned to repair the dairy barn. After starting the repairs, it was found the best remedy was to start from scratch. They put up a new wall, main floor on the wall and framed with wood, then made a metal-sided barn that looked almost like the original barn that was torn down.

This barn is not used as a dairy barn for the land was sold off prior to Mr. Hrib owning the property.

The silo is still standing, along with a smaller barn that is used as a garage. Thank you Mr. Hrib for keeping your buildings in repair.

Next week, Jim Lunkenheimer's farm is featured. This was the site for several Ira Fire Department barn dances.

Dorothy Southard is the town of Ira historian.