DeLaney Barn

The Delaney Barn is a rare example of a round barn in Colorado. In fact, it may be the only round barn in Colorado. The barn has architectural significance because, as the only known round barn in Colorado, it is the best example of a type and method of construction. The barn is also significant to the broad patterns of the history of agriculture because it is representative of the "new" turn of the century ideology of "scientific" agriculture. The barn evokes a time when agriculture was developing on the Colorado high plains and is a striking example of the craftsmanship, technology, and expertise employed by area farmers. The DeLaney Farm is also known as the Bresnahan Ranch, because of a subsequent owner.

The barn was constructed near the turn of the century on a farmstead owned by the John DeLaney family. DeLaney arrived in Colorado in 1862, as an emigrant to Central City from Neenagh, Tipperary County, Ireland. He and his wife, Bridget, accompanied her parents to Central City and operated the Central City Bakery from 1862 until 1870 when they began raising horses on Toll Gate Creek, east of Denver.2 DeLaney became keeper of the Toll Gate Stage Station on the North Smoky Hill Trail, an early route from the east into the Denver region. The Toll Gate station was an active location at this time .. tolls of ten cents per passenger and twenty-five cents per horse were collected, as well as helping traffic cross the bridge that spanned the creek. In addition, the DeLaneys assisted passengers, served meals, and handled postal duties.

Agriculture in Colorado from the late 1870s to the early 1900s was a thriving industry, supplying Denver and the mining towns with needed food and other supplies. The great open prairie around Denver was being cultivated to fill those needs. Many farmers had to adapt to a new type of agriculture, dryland farming. They were open and willing to try innovative ideas that might make their task easier. Much of what they learned was by observation, exchanging information, and reading agricultural journals, bulletins, and books. The round barn is one example of the progressive techniques farmers employed to succeed at the difficult task before them.

At the turn of the century, the DeLaney barn was referred to as "The Silo" and, because no specific source for the barn design is available, the use of this term may account for its unusual design. The first reported use of silos occurred in New York state in 1878, and siloing itself was considered a revolutionary method of storing crops. It appears, from the materials and dimensions, that the DeLaney silo never functioned efficiently, resulting in its conversion for use as a barn.

In the period between 1900 and 1910, many round barns were constructed throughout the Midwest. Publicists of the "new scientific" agriculture claimed that these barns were time and labor-saving, had more interior space, and were more resistant to the wind than the usual gable roofed barns. Others countered that round and polygonal barns "often lacked adequate ventilation and lighting, and were considered expensive to build."9 Additionally, such a barn required astonishing skill and expertise on the part of the carpenter. In comparing photographs of this barn with others surviving in Kansas, it is particularly notable that this example used the horizontal placement of the clapboards, and that it is truly round, rather than merely polygonal. These attributes, together with the craftsmanship evident in the roof trusses, demonstrate the builder's skill and meet the National Register's criteria for the significance of buildings which represent a type, period, and method of construction.

Fortunately, what remains in Aurora today is one of the most striking farm buildings in Colorado. This perfectly round barn fits especially well into the early twentieth-century wave of round and polygonal barn construction.

An equally important consideration is that traditional farming and ranching are declining in America and as a result, the barn of the past is becoming an endangered species. 10 Every attempt to preserve, protect, or call attention to these special vernacular buildings is a tribute to our agricultural heritage. Also significant is the De Laney Barn's link to the progressive agricultural movement which has contributed to America's role as the leading producer of farm products in the world. Today, as a part of a municipal open space project, the DeLaney Barn gives the Aurora community a sense of its roots -- a direct link with the area's past, and serves as a focal point for the community's pride and its appreciation.