To celebrate the bicentennial of Freedom Township, the Freedom Township Historical Society is presenting a glimpse of the storied past of the community. Thanks to the efforts of FTHS member Judy Thornton, there will be a photo display of almost every barn that has existed in Freedom Township at the FTHS Building on 7276 State Route 303 lasting until Aug. 13.
“Most of these were taken in the winter when the leaves were off of the trees and the brush and stuff is gone so we get a good picture of the barn,” Thornton said. “It helps if you have blue sky, it makes for a better picture.”
Thornton has assembled between 80-90 photos of barns that have existed in Freedom Township, with several no longer standing. She organized them in rows by their respective street addresses, including State Route 303, State Route 88 and State Route 700. She said that she took most of the photos herself, but some images are photos of photos, donated to the FTHS by family members of barn owners.
According to Thornton, the barn photo display is her chance to complete some unfinished business, which she started almost 15 years ago. Thornton originally compiled a photo array of all the barns in Shalersville for the Shalersville Historical Society and eventually made a book of all of the photos. In addition to the photo display, Thornton said that plans are being made to make a photo book like the one she made for Shalersville although the book’s publication date is still to be determined.
“This will be preserved forever. These pictures will be available in a big binder,” Thonton said. “I have written notes on these barns so I am hoping that we can merge everything and get a barn book, but it won’t be for a little while because we are very busy with the bicentennial aspect.”
She said that she enjoyed the Shalersville project so much that she wanted to do the same for Freedom Township.
“My intent was to do a barn book of Freedom barns and then my memory card got lost so I was really out of luck,” she noted. “I had the 4×6 images and we came up with the idea of doing this for our bicentennial.”
Thornton revived the photo project with the assistance of Bicentennial Committee member Connie Evans, who offered technological guidance on how to print the images even without the use of a memory card. Thornton said that she obtained more photos of photos with the help of the FTHS members, who spread awareness about the project through word of mouth.
The barn photo display was made public on July 13 and the FTHS held an open house, inviting all residents and tourists to view the history of Freedom Township.
According to Thornton’s husband, Pete, who also is a member of the FTHS, the photo display not only offered a window into Freedom Township’s past for a newer generation but also brought back nostalgic moments.
“I think a house is a house, but a barn is a structure that was part of the community that you have to care for as part of the farming part of it. That is why the rural community still likes the aspect of it,” he added. “It is not the city anymore. When you think of the city, it is high rises and things like that.”
In addition to the memories that some people offered about their barns, Thornton said that she also gained background information on several of the barns she photographed.
“One family, who had a barn on Beck Road which is where that new humongous complex is by the turnpike, walked their cows out from Orange which is by Beachwood,” she added. “It took them three days to get here to start their new farm. Those were the kind of stories you heard, and it was just so heart-touching.”
Thornton said that the barn photo display not only demonstrated the history but also represented the proud farming culture of Freedom Township that still exists to this day.
“They are being torn down or falling down and that is the end,” she noted.” I don’t know how many barns currently exist in Freedom township. The Barn became an official historic architectural structure of the State of Ohio in December 2018.”
She acknowledged that what has made this project even more enjoyable is her personal connection. She has family that hailed from Shalersville and Drakesberg and she grew up in Mantua before moving to Freedom Township in 1999.
“We live next door to the oldest barn in Freedom,” she noted. “It was built in 1828 by an Irishman that came to Freedom. It is still standing. I can look out my window and see that.”
