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Community Corner

Lower Macungie Township Historical Society Sponsored Barn Tour

Approximately 100 people spent their Saturday visiting seven local barns.

The showed off seven of the township's most colorful pieces of history as part of a self-guided, .

The evening prior to the event, architectural historian and author Greg Huber presented a slide lecture on the evolution and construction of barns in the area to over 100 barn enthusiasts.  He also spoke to the group Saturday morning at the Schantz barn on Brookside Road, pointing out features to look for in each barn.

The township is home to only about 100 remaining barns, Huber said, and since 2000, nearly 10 barns have been lost.  There are no barns built prior to 1800 still standing in Lower Macungie.

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Huber told the group there are three types of barns that were built in the area:  log ground barns, sweitzer barns and standard barns.

Log ground barns -- grundschiere in the Pennsylvania German dialect -- were constructed from logs and had only one story.  None of these barns remain in the township.  However, four ground barns — two of frame construction and two of stone construction — still exist locally.

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Another type of barn is a sweitzer — a two-level type with an upper floor and a basement.  These barns also had a forebay, or front extension at the main body of the barn, creating an asymmetrical roofline.  Only one of these barns remains, off Reservoir Road, Huber said.

The third barn type in the area is the standard barn. Similar to the sweitzer, it differs in its symmetrical roofline.  All the barns on the tour were of this type.

Huber and several volunteers have been documenting barns and learning their histories for the past several years.  Some barns have been turned into apartments or homes; others still stand on their own--preserved for their magnificent beauty and workmanship.

Barn study committee members include:  Greg Huber, Darcy Dodd, Becky Brown, Ann Bartholomew, Chuck Peters, Kris Troxell, Lee Lichtenwalner, Craig Bartholomew, Don Kohn and Sarajane Williams.

Huber's wish is that the barns will stand for centuries to come.

“We have a heritage here that should be preserved as best we can,” he said. 

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