SLOWLY COMING TO ITS KNEES 😢 ASW contest #24 "Old Wood"

This will be my first time entering the aswcontest. Spent an hour or so tooling around some of the previous weeks' entries. Wow, I really enjoyed all that I viewed. 👍😁 I hope to be able to join along, in providing quality content for others.

Real quick: setting; Upstate New York, town 39sq miles, population 586, history old farming region.

I have owned property in this sleepy little town for over 40 years now, and over that time I have watched this astonishing, relic of a once proud structure, slowly come to its knees.

I stopped to take this picture from a pretty good distance. By approaching the old barn and silo from this angle I always contemplate, boy it doesn't look that bad, may be it could be saved.😃

Getting closer only puts a doubt in my mind.

Upon arrival, the dream is no longer, and reality occupies your thoughts.

The silo's roof has been weathered beyond repair, as the rusty ladder remains intact, but otherwise in total disrepair.

The silo is not constructed with wood, except the framing of the roof. I am not sure exactly what material was used in the construction of the silo. What ever material, it is strapped with bands of iron. You can see a few small windows in the semi-circular outcropping of the silo. This step out provides the farmer a point to tend to the grain being stored. The small windows would provide very little ventilation.

The roof of the silo being an asphalt type shingle, tells me that the silo was an addition to the barn. This type of product was not available when the barn was constructed.

Gravity has the overhang ready to hit the ground.

I'm taking pictures of the side facing in a westerly direction. This will be the first side to hit the ground. At the tip of the gable end of the roof you can see that the roof sticks out. A pulley system would be hung on this outcropping for the farmer to be able to hoist bails of hay to the top of the barn. This pointed section of the roof has been refered to as the widow's Peak, Hay Hood, or Crow's Peak. Each term makes complete sense. A farmer would not want to stand under the widows peak for sure.

The wood of the barn has weathered and displaying multiple colors. Salvaged wood of this nature is a big business.

The Widow's Peak framing is awesome.

The framing of the roof is in pretty good condition, but decking material used to cover the framing has totally disintegrated, exposing the underside of the metal roof.

The actual framing structure is also in descent shape. Framed back in the day, these large timbers would have all the joinery done by hand. Much of the joinery would not require nailing as the different unions would fit together like a puzzle. These large pieces would than be laid by pure man-power. Barn building was a community project. Down the road one good deed deserved another. What a way to operate.😁😁😁

This is a picture of early pioneers who setteled this region.
https://www.countyoffice.org/mcdonough-ny-historical-society/

Hope you enjoyed! thebigsweed