South central Pennsylvania is known for its great soils in
the Cumberland Valley. Farming has dominated the landscape since the early
European settlers move in in the 1700s. Drive anywhere in this region and you
will see barns and silos surrounded by green fields of the different crops grown
there. At one time, every farm had cattle or dairy cows, which required hay to
feed them and barns to house them. A popular style was “bank barns” built into
the sides of a hill that enabled entry from two levels – Livestock on the lower
level and hay and supplies on the upper level.
There is one big problem with storing hay in barns in that
area if the farmer doesn’t let it dry thoroughly before putting it in the barn.
Damp hay generates heat and is prone to spontaneous combustion! The solution is
to provide ventilation to keep temperatures low. A large number of barns in the
region were built with brick ends that provided ventilation by leaving openings
in the bricks. The bricklayers got creative and started leaving the openings in
a variety of patterns. These patterns were made to look like sheaths of wheat, chalices,
geometric shapes, or other shapes.
One such brick end barn has local notoriety along Route 16 west
of Greencastle, which gets to the point of the title. Around about 1850, a
farmer wanted his barn to have a man riding a horse at the top of the brick end.
Versions of the story are that he didn’t have the money to pay the mason and
that he was hard to work with. The mason got angry and finished the barn by replacing
the horse with a mule to express his feelings toward the farmer. The moral of
the story – Treat your hired help with respect, pay your bills, and don’t be a
jackass!!
Here are some pictures of the barn and a few
others in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
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| Man Riding a Mule on Brick End Barn, Greencastle, PA |
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| Man Riding a Mule Brick End Barn, Greencastle, PA |
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| Brick End Barn, Fort Loudon, PA |
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| Brick End Barn, Lemar Rd. South of Lemasters, PA |
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| Brick End Barn, Lemar Rd. South of Lemasters, PA |
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| Brick End Barn off Stitzlers Road, Mercersburg, PA |
