The James Way dairy barn was added to the farm when C. Herbert Lewis owned the property (1911 – 1915).
A local newspaper announced Lewis’ purchase of the farm, explaining “…the buildings need overhauling. The new landlord plans to put them in first class repair at an early date.” Rockford Morning Star, August 24, 1911.
His improvements must have made the farm desirable. By December 1915, Lewis sold his farm to Charles and Esta Barrett for a healthy premium. The property included, what was then, a new James Way dairy barn that still stands on the property today. After her husband died in 1918, Esta managed the farm and estate. She ran a successful dairy operation, winning local and state competitions.
The dairy barn was designed with the latest features and practices being promoted by the sanitary milk movement. The James Way Manufacturing Co of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, was a proponent of sanitary barns and equipment and published catalogs and books advertising their products.
The dairy barn has concrete floors and feed bunks, steel posts and stanchions, and shafts that connect to roof ventilators, providing fresh air throughout the building. The pens could be outfitted with cork or wooden blocks, both being easier on the cow’s feet than concrete and were more sanitary than wooden planks or dirt floors.
The modern surfaces were easier to clean than earlier barn designs and reduced bacteria in the milking parlor. Pairing cleanliness with plenty of fresh air provided by the windows and ventilators, the cows were kept healthy and the milk pure.
