WIND KNOCKS HOG KNOB BARN TO GROUND - Property Damage Around County

(02/13/2009)

Fowler barn on Hog Knob Hill collapses in high wind

By Gaylen Duskey

The 50-75 mph winds that struck the area Wednesday night and early Thursday morning claimed a couple of venerable victims in Grantsville and on Hog Knob.

In Grantsville, the cupola on the 80-plus-year old Louise McDonald house was blown off leaving a gaping hole in the roof. Also a cellar house window was blown out in the house. On Hog Knob, and elsewhere in the county, trees were downed and one house suffered blown-out underpinning.

But the real venerable building that suffered the most damage was the two-and-one-half storied cantilevered dairy barn built about 60 years ago by O.E. "Toby" Fowler.

The entire barn went down.

McDonald house cupola on Main Street destroyed

When it was built, the barn was state of the art since it featured a lower level with built-in mangers for the dairy cattle, a middle level to drive the hay wagons into and a levering device to lift the hay up to the second story loft.

One of the main things used in the barn was rolled aluminum for the roof. The aluminum roof was still shiny despite the years.

The barn was built by Fowler with help from William and Drexel Ice and Sherman Stump in 1948.