Preserving a barn at the edge of town and the edge of history

Guest editorial by Robert Kroeger

About 40 yards inside the boundary marker of Cincinnati’s city limits, in what is now known as Finneytown, sits the Bahr barn, dating from 1810, part of the oldest remaining farm in the Queen City and a vivid reminder of our agricultural past. After all, beginning in the late 1820s, Cincinnati wasn’t called “Porkopolis” for nothing.

But still, is a barn worth saving?

As our country approaches its 250th birthday, it’s important to realize that farming was the predominant occupation at the time and the barn was the heart of each farm. But now, driving along rural roads in Ohio, one can’t miss the demise of old barns. Siding boards missing, roofs collapsing, sometimes only huge piles of lumber remaining. Once a part of farming and survival – in 1800 a full 80% of Ohioans survived by farming – the barn was a vital part of each farmstead.

Farming allowed Ohio to grow, well into the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s. Much later, when farm machinery became much, much larger, the old barn’s function diminished and, unless the family could repurpose it, became a lost piece of Ohio history. Along with old barns vanishing, so did their stories.

And once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.

The preservation of the Bahr barn would mean the salvation of one of Cincinnati’s oldest buildings. But it needs work and a good dose of philanthropy.

To assist in the cause, Mt. Healthy’s Ethos Art Collective, a gallery located just 10 minutes from the barn, will host a fundraising exhibit, on display June 5-26, hoping to attract historically-oriented philanthropists to help rescue one of the last links to Cincinnati’s agricultural past.

In 2021, thanks to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s review of my book, “Historic Barns of Ohio,” the new owner of this barn, Cardinal Land Conservancy, asked me to look at the property. When I saw the barn, I recommended dendrochronology, the extremely accurate science of dating wood, and a search of ownership via county plat maps. The results indicated a barn built in 1810 on the John Cleves Symmes land purchase of 1788, six years before the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, which encouraged settlers to move westward. Symmes, whose land warrants were signed by President George Washington in 1794, owned plenty of land.

Ownership changed hands when Ebenezer Ward Finney, a Revolutionary War veteran and namesake of Finneytown sold it to a reverend, John Smith, who sold it to William Snodgrass, who most likely started a farm. Another owner, John Jessup was most likely the farmer who built this barn in 1810. The size of the barn, 30 by 45 feet, unusually large for this era, hints that Jessup had prospered. More owners followed. 

German immigrants Frederick Bahr and Anna Bahr purchased the farm in 1916 and their descendants continued farming here for more than a century. Grandson Dale Bahr, who grew up on the farm, took ownership after his service in Navy Seabees, and became a full-time farmer in 1961. After working the 30 acres for 60 years, as well as establishing a co-op farmers’ market, he donated the farm to the Cardinal Land Conservancy.

When I asked Dale why he decided to donate 30 acres of prime commercial real estate, which he could have sold for millions, he replied, “I had too much sweat and labor in this farm and I didn’t want it to be taken away.” The Bahr legacy trumped a lucrative sale. Sadly, Dale has passed away since making that quote in 2023.

Timber-framed, the barn was built with wood from trees likely on the farm. The builder cut the logs with an axe and hewed them into square beams, assembling the barn with mortise and tenon joints connected with wooden pegs. (Iron nails were expensive in 1800.) As unique as this construction is, even rarer are its “marriage marks,” which are Roman numerals carved on connecting braces in mortise and tenon joints, matching the pieces before the barn is assembled. Builders of timber-framed barns in the United Kingdom and Europe used this technique for centuries before America was settled. At some point, Yankee ingenuity came up with the square-rule method, a simpler method of building barns, which saved time and did not require such marks. After having visited thousands of barns in Ohio and other states, I have seen marriage marks only a handful of times.

That history is just one of many reasons this more than 200-year-old barn is worth preserving — and why supporters are coming together to help save it.

The fundraiser will benefit several nonprofit organizations, including the barn’s owner – Cardinal Land Conservancy – and will feature about 40 of my personal oil paintings of barns from Ohio and other states, including the ones shown here. At the reception on June 5, I’ll tell stories about the paintings. A few of them will be sold via silent auction, the remainder on a fixed-price basis. First come, first served.

On Saturday, June 20, I’ll return to tell barn stories at 1 p.m. and sign books to raise funds for historical societies throughout Ohio and Indiana. The reception, book signing and exhibit are open and free to the public.

• “Barns Unlimited” exhibit and fundraiser
• June 5-26; reception: June 5, 6-8 p.m.
• Ethos Art Collective, 7507 Hamilton Ave, Mt. Healthy
• Storytelling and book signing: June 20, 1-2 p.m.

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Based in Montgomery, Robert Kroeger is an artist whose barn paintings raise funds for dozens of historical societies in Ohio and Indiana. He is the author of “Historic Barns of Ohio,” “Round Barns of America” and “Stone Barns of America.”