Barneveld Family Farm and Historic Stone Barn Preserved

March 22, 2005

Over the years the public has witnessed the incremental loss of our rural scenery along Highway 18/151 near Barneveld. However, there is one special place that will remain as it is, with its unique connection to our natural and cultural past. The Thomas Family Farm with its magnificent historic stone barn will forever be protected and preserved to remind us of our rural beginnings and our cultural heritage. On March 10, 2005 the Driftless Area Land Conservancy with financial support from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program, obtained a conservation and historic preservation easement from the Thomas family of rural Barneveld. This easement will help the Thomas’s to restore their barn and preserve their 180 acres of farmland. The Conservancy purchased the development rights preventing further development of the land and protecting other important historic and conservation values of the property. The Thomas family lands can be described as a unique place where both our natural and cultural heritage will be preserved in perpetuity.

Conservation easements are in many ways similar to typical access easements that permit access across one property to another. They are voluntary legal agreements that protect the conservation values of the property and remain with the deed even if the property is sold. The landowner retains all other rights including the right to sell or transfer the property.

To celebrate this remarkable event the public is invited to join conservation enthusiasts, and historical/architectural buffs at a gathering Sunday, April 24th, between 1:00 and 4:00 PM. Follow the signs near Barneveld to County Highway T. For traffic safety, do not access their farm from their private driveway on STH 18/151. Attendees will enjoy speakers including, Wisconsin author Jerry Apps, Barns of Wisconsin, and tours of the historic stone barn.
[view the invitation]

The Thomas Family Farm dates back to the mid 1860. Currently Harold, his wife Amy, and their son Doug raise beef cattle, corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. David Harold Thomas was born in 1922. Known to his friends as “Harold,” but named after his revered father, he is determined conservator. He grew up working the family farm with his brother and father. The boys learned to use and care for the land, and they learned to love The Barn. The farm and barn are Harold’s life. His wife and son share in his passion to preserve our agricultural heritage and lands.

Harold’s grandparents, Walter and Margaret Thomas, came from Wales, Great Britain in the 1850’s. They settled near Hyde’s Mill and began farming wheat and raising pigs and cattle. The family gradually acquired more land near Barneveld and built up their herd of cattle. Walter envisioned great things for his business when he learned that the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad planned a route through his property. He and his brother-in-law, Isaac Jones, planned a stone barn that would hold enough hay in the mow to feed a herd of cattle over the winter, and a stable below big enough for the horses to work a herd some said was as large as 1000 head.

In the late 1990’s Harold worked with a number of barn enthusiasts, including experts at the Wisconsin Historical Society to assemble the information needed to place the barn on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. On March 29th, 2001, he and his family were happy to learn that the barn had been added to both of these prestigious registers. The majestic structure they completed in 1881, reflects careful attention to architectural and construction details. The barn is 100’ long and 40 and ½’ in width, with walls measuring 21” at the base. The upper level is a large clear space that can hold up to 10,000 small bales of hay. The most impressive aspect of this barn is the variety of arches used in the construction of the doors, louvers, and windows. Legend has it that Isaac worked on churches and cathedrals in Wales. Certainly the quality of these openings indicates that he was familiar with sophisticated building techniques. [view photos]

In the 1997, Harold sold 79 acres of their back pasture to The Nature Conservancy. Today that prairie pasture is managed as a nature preserve open to the public year-round for numerous recreational activities such as hiking, cross-country skiing, nature appreciation, bird-watching, photography, and white-tailed deer hunting. The preserve also is home to rare species and prairie plants such as marbleseed, Hill’s thistle, wooly milkweed, and tuberous Indian plantain.

In 2000 the Driftless Area Land Conservancy was formed as a non-profit land trust. Its mission is to protect and preserve the unique natural resources and rural character of Iowa, Lafayette, Richland and Sauk Counties. The Conservancy accomplishes this by working with private landowners on a voluntary basis to obtain development rights through conservation easements, or obtaining properties outright. Much of its work in Iowa County involves protecting agricultural lands from conversion to non-agricultural uses. The Driftless Area Land Conservancy is partnered with eight other agencies and organizations in a landscape scale land protection project known as the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area (MRPHA). This unique project is located in eastern Iowa and western Dane Counties aims to protect grasslands and the agricultural landscape of more than 40,000 acres. It is one of the best sites in the upper Midwest for protecting prairie remnants, rare prairie species, and area-sensitive species such as grassland birds. One of the goals of the project is to protect and maintain the area’s predominantly rural agrarian landscape and economy, thus keeping important agricultural grasslands open and preventing the unplanned fragmentation and conversion of these lands into residential and commercial uses.

The Driftless Area Land Conservancy is especially grateful for the grant funds from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program that were used purchase the conservation and historic preservation easement from the Thomas family. In this transaction the Thomas family also gave a very noble gift in the form of a bargain sale of the easement to the Driftless Area Land Conservancy. Their gift not only made the project more affordable and competitive with the granting authorities, but the cash value that gift can be matched with WDNR Stewardship funds to protect additional farmlands in the area. “The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is pleased to partner with the Department of Natural Resources and the Driftless Area Land Conservancy in protecting this working farm and historic barn”, said Pat Leavenworth, NRCS State Conservationist. “The conservation easement, acquired with assistance from the USDA Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, will enable the Thomas’s to continue farming and will protect the historic, scenic, natural, and agricultural values of this farm for generations to come.” The Conservancy also received support from The Nature Conservancy, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Jeffris Family Foundation grant to assist in the architectural planning that is necessary for the barn restoration. The Driftless Area Land Conservancy is seeking additional donations to support this important project. For more information on the Thomas Conservation and Historic Preservation Easement, contact Doug Cieslak, Executive Director, at (608) 930-3252.