Colter, Ben, Polygonal Barn

The Ben Colter (Reinhart) barn, located in St. Mary's Township of Adams County, Indiana, is significant for its association with the development of round and polygonal barns in Indiana. The barn is a direct link to the agricultural development that occurred in the state from 1850 to 1936 (and beyond) and has changed little since its construction c. 1907 with the exception of the hog barn attachments that were added in 1915. The period of greatest significance of the barn was from c.1907 to 1936 when round and polygonal barns lost their popularity. Finally, by 1936, round and polygonal barns were considered obsolete and the last round structure was built in the state to replace a 1915 round barn that had burned (Grant County, Richland Township, extant).

The owner and builder of the barn were Ben Colter, a local banker, school teacher, and sawmill operator. Mr. Colter built the house in 1900, followed by the barn and other outbuildings in this rural location only a few miles from the Ohio border. Legend has it that Colter constructed the walls of the barn on the ground and then hoisted them into place with a post placed in the barn's center, in the midst of the central wood stave silo. Colter housed horses on the lower level south, cattle on the lower level east, sheep on the lower level north, storage on the lower level west, and on the upper level was a hay mow for hay and straw.

Ben Colter added hog barns on the east in 1915 and created more storage space for animals in addition to a drive-through from north to South. Although this was a change to the original structure, the additions have acquired the significance of their own through time. Ben Colter and his family retained ownership of the farm and barn until 1940 when the property was sold to Mae Musser. Ms. Musser maintained the barn until selling it to Glen Everett in the 1980s. Everett in turn sold the barn and surrounding property to the current owners, Ray and Nancy Reinhart, in 1989.

The Colter Barn illustrates that the construction of polygonal barns continued even after the appearance of the circular barn in agricultural construction. The belief that central-plan barns improved farming efficiency remained popular until the mid-1930s. However, many farmers did not build circular barns to avoid patent infringements. The Colter barn illustrates how the building technology of balloon framing, first introduced to centralized barn construction with circular barns, continued to be used in later polygonal barns to open up the interior.

The Ben Colter (Reinhart) barn was one of three six-sided barns that were constructed in the state of Indiana. The other two were built in Morgan County's Washington Township and Putnam County's Franklin Township. The Morgan County example is still standing while the Putnam County barn has been torn down. Like the Colter barn, the Morgan County example has had its original roof replaced by asphalt shingle.

The Colter (Reinhart) barn is thus a rare example of a polygonal barn, being one of the two remaining examples of the hexagonal shape. Interestingly, only three of the 119 round and polygonal structures built in the state were hexagons, with all three being built after the turn of the century and maybe a response to skirting patent rights that were newly conferred on Littleton, McNamee, and Duncan (1905). The barn has the essential physical features that it possessed at the time of its period of significance, from c.1907 to 1936. It thus satisfies the registration requirements for integrity established in multiple property listings. The building has aged but has not been significantly altered since its erection in c.1907 and therefore serves as a link to the development and history of agriculture in Indiana.