A New Life for Gish Barn

By: Karen Skubik
June 18, 2014
713

According to Denise Weis, When our country was only 50 or 60 years old they were building our barn and the Weis family have decided to share their pre-Civil War beauty with the public creating the Gish Barn and Gathering Place. Tucked in the very northern edge of Wayne County, the Germanic-style forebay bank barn stands on the former Gish farmstead where tobacco was originally grown in the fields much like other farms in the Rittman area. As explained by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, this style of barn was built in the United States from 1820 – 1900 with the distinguishing feature the presence of an overshoot or forebay, which is defined as an area where the walls overshoot its foundation. The barns were banked meaning they were set into a hillside for easy access to two levels. Denise and Ric Weis moved to the Gish farm in 2011 with their five teenagers with a dream to someday restore the barn and their house. Now listed with the National Historic Registry after considerable research, documentation and communication with the Historic Registry, the Wieses convinced the organization that our restoration was not altering the original historic design, said Denise Weis. We had two people date the barn, explained Weis. The late Joseph Miller, an Amish man who said he could tell the barn was pre-Civil War because the 4x4 beams were hand hewn. Miller told the Weises that because of the condition of the barn, it would start to lean in 3-4 years. His prediction was correct when changes were first noted at the end of four years. More recently, Rudy Christian, barn historian and founder of the Friends of Ohio Barns, carefully inspected the structure and determined the date of origin to be between 1820 -1830. Weis noted, It is an unusual barn for this area. Typically a barn would have a center isle on the ground floor. However, this barn had stalls that ran continuously from east to west, speculating that it housed horses and cattle at some time. The Weis family also planned on using the barn to raise animals, but after taking into account grazing issues, they considered other uses when time came to restore the building. With the Weis offspring in their twenties, they began requesting the site for their own weddings, and son Daniel later became the first groom in the restored barn. Our children and their families put in a tremendous amount of time, said Weis. We do not have farm equipment so muscle and sweat was the way we got it done. Professionals were also called in during the process. These included David Kridler, stone mason; Fred Cannon, timber framer; and Adam Mast who joined the team for excavation work and also to jack up the barn. Finally a team of Amish installed a new roof. All this work was not unnoticed when The Friends of Ohio Barns, a barn conservation group, awarded Denise and Ric Weis the 2013 Stewardship Award, noting, The barn underwent some of the most extensive repairs we have ever seen in an effort to save it for future generations. The Gish Barn and Gathering Place opened their set of double-wide doors to the public less than a year ago and already have ten weddings scheduled for 2014 as well as six barn dances and other community events. An upcoming June 26 barn dance will include live old-timey music by Pocketful OGimmick with Susan English calling squares, mixers, and longways sets. Visit gishbarn.com to learn more.

A New Life for Gish Barn

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