History, memories make huge, old barn worth saving 

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

A group of citizens has formed to work on preserving the old barn, located along a sweeping curve on Highway 34 in Wolfe City. The group, called the Red Roof Farms Preservation Association, is filing the necessary paperwork with state and federal agencies, coordinating clean-up volunteers, and raising money. One fundraising effort is the selling of prints by artist Albino Hinojosa who painted the barn in 1973 when he was a student at the university in Commerce. The prints are $25 each, and can be purchased at Old Plantation Antiques in downtown Wolfe City, or writing or emailing the association (addresses at end of the story, on Page 2a). Association members pictured are (from left) Dale Gaskill, Kelly Wood, Butch McKay, and Clay Henslee. -- Staff photo by Cope

Dec. 29, 2005 - The barn’s size and age are certainly impressive, yet the dilapidation is evidenced by the sunlight streaming through the broken boards and holes onto the structure’s floor, packed hard with dried hay, manure, and soil.

The barn, nestled in a long curve of Highway 34 in Wolfe City, is still standing though, even after many significant weather events, and over 100 years of serving a purpose for its owners.

The barn and the property it stands on are currently owned by the Wolfe City Independent School District. There were plans this year to demolish the building, but a group of locals that had often talked about saving the old structure stepped up to curtail the action.

�It was actually on the (school) board�s agenda to accept bids for its demolition,� said Dale Gaskill. But after public comment, the school�s superintendent and board agreed, in March, to postpone the event.

Now, the newly-organized Red Roof  Farms Preservation Association has its chores lined out.

�We�re looking to preserve the barn, not restore it, because that would cost too much money,� said Gaskill.

The association’s committee members recently met with representatives of Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Cooperative Extension, and the Governor’s Office.

�We basically met to give them direction for low-interest loans, and grants,� said Mary Sue Cole, a Hunt County Extension agent. �There�s not as much money as there used to be out there for projects like this. The group really wants to do things for their community, and developing coalitions or partnerships (to apply for preservation funding)� top the group�s list of things to do.

Already the group has worked to document the barn’s history and is working to gain a non-profit organization designation. “I’ve found there is lots of paperwork and hoops to jump through,” offered Clay Henslee, the association’s chairman. Henslee has ties to the property. His uncle, Herbert Henslee, owned the barn, and property, prior to the school’s purchase of it (for possible school expansion).

The National Trust and Texas Historical Commission have visited the barn site with a structural engineer that’s developing a restructure plan, explained Kelly Wood, another spearheader in the association. 

Wood has worked with other historical preservation tasks in the city, such as the restoration of a Wolfe City school building constructed in 1922 for black children. It is one of 34 remaining, out of the 530 built nationwide, as an effort by Ted Rosenthal to provide schools for the nation’s black children.

�There are several places here with historical value,� Wood said about his town, including a cotton seed oil mill, a flour mill, and library that�s housed in an old train depot.

There’s value in preserving old things, according to Gaskill. “On a cold morning such as this,” he said earlier this month, “I think about my dad and granddad as they would hitch up the mules and go break ground, knowing they were still a year away from the crops (harvest). ... I think a place like this barn can help teach children what it was like to follow a mule, and what it was like to have a multi-year plan to raising crops. It’s good to teach them about the earlier years because they are disappearing.”

Wood added the association’s plan is to have a sort of  “walk through” museum where people can see old farm equipment and methods.

Plus, as pointed out by Gaskill, there’s an economic advantage to preserving the old building. People driving along Highway 34, north from Greenville, will find a nice ride in the country. When they reach Wolfe City, the barn-turned-museum would entice visitors to stop for a while. “Interesting things will stop people,” Gaskill said. “And people bring money” to the businesses in the town.

�This barn is a landmark, and it will draw people� once it�s made tour-able, said Butch McKay, another association member.

�The community has come together to work on this. People have contributed money and time,� McKay related.

One lady, a former resident of the area, heard about the restoration efforts for the barn and mailed in $100, Gaskill said. Pledges of money and time, are also on the books.

There has already been some clean-up efforts by volunteers around the structure, evidenced by the piles of brush, weeds, and debris ready to be burned when the drought-induced ban is lifted. Plans are to remove the well-deteriorated, smaller barn that was likely used as the original family’s milking parlor. Some of the wood and materials from the small barn can be used in the restoration of the big barn.

�And really, we�ve come a long way from the talk of demolition,� Gaskill added.

Persons interested in the Red Roof Farms Preservation Association can access the association by email: redrooffarms@yahoo.com; or write to the association at P.O. Box 488, Wolfe City, Texas 75496.