Originally the Ontario Barn Preservation newsletter, June 2024.

Dear Members,

I've been thinking about the trees which barns were made from, originally. There were huge trees long ago. I wonder if people now can even imagine the size of the trees in early Ontario history. Jim Campbell and the others at the first Tenon Talks were talking about the size of trees used to make barns a hundred, and more, years ago. Jim said most of the barns in his area were made from pine trees.

Online, I found the Ontario Tree Atlas Project, from the University of Guelph. They created a pdf file, a science survey of Ontario's tree species. Here is a link to read it online, or download it.

Also useful is the Ontario Government's Tree Atlas, online.

Coming up to road trip season you might like to find places to visit from an Ontario travel blog by Stephanie, The World as I See It.

Does your barn have a lightening rod?

I like practical heritage things like lightening rods. But, I wondered how practical they really are. In order to be legitimate, they need to be grounded. This means a copper or aluminum line runs from the lightening rod on the barn roof (house or other building) down the side and is then buried in the ground attached to a metal rod, called a grounding rod. The idea is for lightening to be directed down the the earth to dissipate safely in the ground. A large building, like a barn, may have bonding connectors linking the rods. So, its an old fashioned surge protector.

How many lightening rods still around are actually grounded? Not all of them I'm sure. Nothing wrong with a pretty, decorative lightening rod... except that an insurance company might want a functional lightening rod before insuring a barn. 

This question came up in email recently. The contractor said the barn could not be insured without a lightening rod. That brought up the question of how effective a lightening rod is at preventing lightening strikes and possible barn fires. The consensus at OBP was, not much. Some even thought a lightening rod could cause more lightening to hit a barn. 

In the end, I think a lightening rod is still pretty decorative and a little touch of history for a barn, but it doesn't have a real, practical use. Which is a little disappointing but, I'll get over it. 

Laura

Highlights from the monthly Directors meeting...

New barn related words: silage, hay harpoon, and hay hole. My brother and his friends would have loved to know a phrase like hay hole not so many years ago. Now he's too old and serious for those kind of things. (Most of the time, I know he'll still laugh about it).

At least twice now the subject of heritage designation has been brought up. Some barn owners are concerned that we will be pushing, or are affiliated with, heritage designations for their barns. We are not. It may be useful for some barn owners to look into, but we don't especially support or have influence about heritage designations. If you have concerns please ask us. 

Heidi, our Regional Representative for most of Northern Ontario has left. I hope she will come back when she feels she has more time. If you know, or you yourself, would be interested in becoming a Regional Representative please let us know. It'd be glad to find someone else in Northern Ontario because we don't hear very much about barns and rural history from the north. 

In case you missed it!

I posted about heritage apple trees in Ontario to our social media accounts. If you missed it, here's the post.

Are you curious about heritage apples in Ontario? I see them growing along the roadside, unpicked or cared for all over Ontario when we go on road trips, visiting and so on. My Mother and Grandparents talk about the apples they used to have for making pies and wonder where they could still find those now. They don't see them sold in farmer's markets and certainly not in stores any more.

I found a few good links and then this book, by Sher Leetooze, "Identifying Heritage Apples Across Ontario".

Orchard People The Kitchen Orchard The Ontario Heritage and Feral Apple Project

Pick some wild apples this year. You could even try planting some of the old trees seldom seen any more. Give them a chance to get a new start and have apples close at hand when you get into pie making mode.

See also, a CBC link: Set in Stone: Ontario man turns the clock back at ancestral farm

I have also posted to our social media about dry stone walling/ fencing. A skill I have admired and even tried a few times in a small way. I'm sure it would be useful if you were making Inukshuks. 

Dry Stone Canada

Dry Stone Walling Across Canada

Screen capture from https://sdstone.ca/why-drystone

One Last Thing...

I cross posted this wonderful photo from Facebook today. 

The following is cut and pasted from a Facebook post and comments. Sad to see the Planetarium go. I didn't know it had been vacant. I would have liked to visit once more before it was gone. I haven't been there since we went for a school trip. We moved out of Toronto, far enough that making a trip into the city was a bit of an event. Sorry Toronto McLaughlin Planetarium. How many are still left in the world?

I would have added the link to the post but Facebook links are out of control. It was 5 lines of code for one link. So, no thanks. The post came from a group, Canada is Amazing.

Toronto is saying goodbye to a piece of its space-age history. The iconic McLaughlin Planetarium, once a beloved attraction near Queen’s Park, is now being demolished after decades of sitting unused.

Opened in 1968, the planetarium welcomed over six million visitors and served as a gateway to the wonders of astronomy. It was originally gifted to the city through the Royal Ontario Museum and quickly became a hub for science education and discovery.

Over time, however, the building closed in the mid-1990s and remained vacant, slowly fading from the city’s vibrant landscape. Now, construction crews are on-site, marking the end of an era as Toronto continues to grow and evolve.

Here’s a quick look at its journey:

• Opened in 1968 as a public science and education center
• Attracted over 6 million visitors during its peak years
• Closed in the mid-1990s and remained unused for decades
• Currently being demolished as part of urban redevelopment

As the downtown core transforms, the loss of this historic landmark reflects both change and progress—while leaving behind memories of a place that once inspired curiosity about the universe.

For those unfamiliar with its history, it was donated by Colonel R.S. McLaughlin. Colonel Sam’s McLaughlin Carriage Company went onto to build cars, including the McLaughlin Buick, and later became part of General Motors. I’m sure Colonel Sam would be horrified at what has happened to his wonderful gift to the people of Ontario.

His estate, Parkwood, is still beautifully preserved in Oshawa.

I'm interested in rocks and art made with rocks, stones or pebbles: buildings, bridges, cairns, Inukshuks, and rock balancing. The old stone farm houses are my favourite to see and photograph in rural Ontario.

Rocks are used as a way to mark the path of travelers, to tell others they had passed that way. It's not just a romantic notion. There are good, practical reasons for wanting people to know where you have gone and where you might be found. Hikers get lost, have accidents and run ins with wildlife.

I like the custom of putting little pebbles on graves to mark that you were there, still remembering and still visiting.