Nickel Plate Trail 2 and the Round Barn Museum

Nickel Plate Trail - MM5 to Rochester – 32 miles RT

We were blessed with yet another clear, sunny day. Though chilly, our layers and new hats and gloves kept us warm. We parked mid-route, rode to Mile Marker 5 on the Nickel Plate Trail, then reversed direction and headed to Rochester. The paved trail was level and pleasant to ride. Squirrels and chipmunks darted out in front of us in kamikaze fashion, but always managed to avoid a collision. A large owl flew out of the brush unexpectedly about three feet from David’s nose and they nearly collided… an adrenaline rush, but collision avoided. That would have been an odd accident to explain.

The trail took us past cornfields and old grain elevators, through little towns, and across lightly trafficked county roads.

A gazebo stood at the trail’s end and remnants of the old train tracks were barely visible.

In the parking lot, we chatted with Jack, a local cyclist, who highly recommended an ice cream shop en route and a nearby restaurant, One-Eyed Jacks, to visit. The restaurant’s specialty was Indiana tenderloin “as big as the plate it’s served on”. Huh? We had to do a little research to figure it out. Luckily the Visit Indiana website explained it to us. “Indiana does not have an official state food, but if there was one, it might be the tenderloin sandwich. If you're a native Hoosier, you know what it is. It's a piece of pork, pounded and breaded and usually fried. It might be crispy and flat or thick and juicy, but almost all of them are bigger than the bun.” Sounded absolutely healthy, but we gave it a pass.

Photo credit: VisitIndiana

Once again, we finished our ride early enough in the day to do some exploring. My research indicated that the Fulton County Museum also contained the Round Barn Museum. Hmm… a novelty… and we were off.

According to the museum brochure, Fulton County Indiana is the Round Barn Capital of the World! Indiana had more round barns than any other state (originally 225 and now 73) and Fulton county had more round barns than any other county in Indiana (originally 17, now 15). But why round barns at all? We aimed to find out.

We passed by the Calloway Round Barn (1914) on our way out of Peru and kicked ourselves later for not stopping to take a Pic, but luckily Alan C. of Marion, IN took this beauty and shared on FlickR. I love the animals in colored shingles on the roof.

Round barns were developed from the English custom of putting a roof over the horses who walked in a circle to provide power to operate mills. The English round barn is called a gin-gan. The first of Indiana’s round barn was built in 1874.

Some believed that round barns were constructed so that evil spirits had no corners in which to hide. However, it seems it was more economics than fear of evil spirits. Round barns are economical in many ways. They hold more capacity than a rectangular barn with the same amount of siding. Having livestock all face the center saved farmers steps when feeding. It was faster, easier, and cheaper to build than post-and-beam barns. Additionally, most round barns used nails and needed only two men to construct them.

We checked out the Fulton County Museum and its local county memorabilia. It seems Elmo Lincoln was born in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana in 1889. If the name doesn’t ring a bell immediately, here’s a helper… Elmo was the very first Tarzan!!! Poster below from 1921.

After our discovery of Elmo, we walked a short distance down the road to the round barn on display. Built in 1924 by a local man, Bert Leedy, it was the last round barn built in the county. It passed ownership over the years and in 1989, a tornado took the roof off. The owner donated it to the museum and through grants and donations, the museum had it restored and moved to the museum grounds.

Inside the barn is a mish-mash of old farm equipment, a buggy, an old truck, and a gigantic Santa. The layout is not conducive to wandering about, but the structure itself and its ceiling are absolutely wonderful.

We put round barns in the category of old covered bridges which we typically go out of our way to see. We learned of another round barn not too far away and went to find it. The Haimbaugh Round Barn was built in 1914 and we took photos from the roadside.

Next time, we’ll conclude our cycling adventure for this season as we reach the Indiana/Illinois state line. We’re almost to Chicago! It’s time to start thinking of heading back home. Las Vegas has cooled off a bit now that it’s autumn and we’ve got lots of projects and chores awaiting us. But don’t think for a minute that we intend to rush. There’s lots to see along the way and we hope you’ll join us to explore.