The Round Barn Trading Co - Andover Minnesota.
The Round Barn Trading Co - Andover Minnesota.
Finding this barn on a map started a little research project for me looking into round barns and their history. I even have had some correspondence with the author of "Minnesota's Round Barn's" (John Roscoe) and he sent me a copy of his book! It's a fun resource of history and photos.
The day I stopped in at the barn, the people in the antique store were very fun to chat with and helpful. Unfortunately, the upstairs of the barn is covered in insulation and it was not legal or accessible for me to take pictures (despite me asking several times!).
On the Round Barn Trading Co website it says (www.roundbarntradingcompany.com): The round barn was built in 1880 and was originally used to house calves and livestock feed. In 1950 the land was purchased by George and Maja Adolfson. George was a farm boy from Sweden and came to the US when he was young. He was glad to be back on the farm. Their farm consisted mainly of dairy cows ranging from 25-50 milking cows and some crop land. The large extension added to the barn was actually moved up here from Minneapolis by truck! They hired married couples to help manage the farm and they lived in a round house built on the property that was similar in shape to the barn. George and Maja lived in the farm house with their 5 children, and Maja’s mother lived in a house across the driveway.
At one point, the Round Barn was also used as an auction house for cows. The current furnace room was referred to the “cow shower,” where they washed off the cows before they brought them in to auction them off. Later, the barn was cleared out and Maja started selling antiques in the barn, while the floors were still dirt! The Barn has continued on since then as an antique shop.
www.highergrounddrone.com #forestlakemn #wyomingmn #chisagolakes #centercitymn #stacymn #meinminnesota #explorechisagolakes #lakesareachamber #andover #roundbarn #roundbarntradingcompany
