Newton Township
The asterisk preceding Ne1 and Ne9 indicate that additional photographs and information about these barns are available in the Engadine Historical Society Museum.

*Ne1. (west of Greenwald Rd.; NE� sec.25, T.43N.-R.11W.) (#2, Greenwald Farm in Engadine Museum display)   

            This barn is said to have been built for Theodore Greenwald in 1922.  It is one of the several barns of the area that were built by Bill Germain.  The star and crescent moon ornaments, added by Dale Greenwald in 2010, were lighted during the following Christmas season.  
 

Ne2. (south of Rte. 2; NE� sec.25, T.43N.-R.11W.

             This former dairy barn was built in 1945 for someone whose surname was Wagner.  It has a half wall atop the foundation.  Though not used for several years, the formerly used box stalls for workhorses and the stanchions for the cattle are still said to be in the barn and in "good shape."
 

Ne4. (north of Clark Rd.; SE� sec.28, T.43N.-R.11W.)

            This barn was built in the 1950s for Ronald and Betty Clark.  It is now used chiefly for young cattle and hay.  (Yes, that is a white donkey! -- They are reputed to be good guard animals to protect young cattle, from coyotes and wolves.)
 

Ne11. (north of Clark Rd.; SE� sec.28, T.43N.-R.11W.)

             This barn, which was built several years before the one shown as Ne4, was used for milch cattle and hay.  It is off to the left  -- i.e., generally west --of the silo in the photograph of Ne4, and is put "out-of-order" number-wise to direct attention to the fact that these two barns are relatively close to each other on the same property.  As can be seen, it is difficult to see and to photograph this barn, especially in the summer.  Indeed, I did not even see it until Betty Clark told me about it.
 

Ne5. (east of Brawley Rd.; NW� sec.26, T.43N.-R.11W.)

             This former barn is thought to have been built for Dewey and Stella Brawley.  It is known to have been here pre-WWII and thought likely to have been built in the 1930s.
 

Ne6. (west of S. Gould City Rd.; SW� sec.28, T.42N.-R.11W.)

            This barn, which appears to be in good shape, has fallen to disuse during the last several years. It is one of the few barns of the county that is sided by horizontal boards.  Only the mow level hay door seems so-to-speak the norm. The base of a former windmill is between the barn and the road.
 

Ne7. (east of S. Gould City Rd.; SW� sec.21, T.42N.-R.11W.)

            This log barn, according to a former owner, is thought by area residents to be "the oldest barn in Mackinac County."  He did not know, however, either when or for whom it was built -- only that he had purchased it from the LaLondes.  This fact may be significant in that the road south of the farm is LaLonde Rd., and some of the roads of the area are named for early nearby residents.   In any case, the barn is known to have housed a cow or two before my informant owned it, and he had some cattle in it as recently as the 1990s.  In the early 1980s, Jim Rourke had the shake-covered  roof, which was possibly the original roof, covered with metal in order to preserve the barn.  The features of this barn seem to show up better in this photograph taken during a reconnaissance in January, 2011 than in those taken during the following summer.
 

Ne8. (south of Main St., Gould City; SW� sec.28, T.43N.-R.11W.)

            This small barn is said to be "eighty or ninety years old" -- i.e., to have been build in the first quarter of the 20th century.  It is known to have been owned at one time by "Pros" Baker. No other information was known by anyone to whom I talked within the area.  The close-ups of "widow's peak" include a pulley, albeit broken, that was used very likely used to help lift hay in wagons up the loft level.  Indeed, the "widow's peak" extensions of several barn roofs provided a place to have these pulleys directly above the loaded hay wagons from which the hay was lifted up to the haymow level, a function that seems to have been more important than the frequently cited one -- i.e., "to keep the pulley and rope out of the weather."
 

*Ne9. (north of Hiawatha Trl. [=H40]; NE� sec.23, T.43N.-R.11W.)  (#13, Freeman Farm, in Engadine Museum display)

            This barn was built in 1934 for J.T. Freeman. The original shingled roof was covered with the metal roof in 1961.  The barn was used as a dairy barn until the mid-1970s.  The property was sold to the Olesons who had a buffalo herd on the farm until 2001. For the last few years, the barn has apparently fallen to disuse.  The composite below the main photograph shows:  Left, the "nameplate" and the general features of the stone masonry, granted painted, of the foundation;  this foundation, most of the stones of which are locally derived "limestone," is ten feet high all the way around the barn and is said to be several feet thick;  Center, the concrete and stone retaining wall of the ramp that extends up to the middle and upper levels of the barn;  Right, a short piece of log atop a "shelf" that is attached to a board that, in turn, is attached to the a vertical wooden boards of the barn for . . .  - I hesitate even to guess what its function may have been.

The feature shown on the right side of the composite led me to see if a lady who was "brought up" on the farm might
              know what it had as a function.  She indicated that she had no recollection of the feature.  Photographs of the barn that are
              in the Engadine Historical Museum substantiate her remarks -- i.e., the feature was not there when the photographs were taken.
              If the dates when the photographs were taken and  when the barn was last painted can be found, the time period during which
              this feature was added will be known.  But, will even that information give a clue to the function of this feature?
                           For the record, the guesses as to its function that were made by the readers include the following:  
                                     1) A perch of some kind, probably for a pet raven.

                                     2) A place -- i.e., beneath the log --  for a visitor who found noone at home to leave a note.  (Considering the shelf's
                                                height this suggested use would indicate that visitors who knew of this function were rather tall.)
                                     3) A family joke of some sort whose meaning has been lost in time.
                                     4) Before the barn had electricity a lamp (kerosene?) was put on that little platform;  later, when they got elec-
                                               tricity, they no longer needed the lamp;  then, one day, just on a whim, somebody put the stump up there.
                                     5) For woodpeckers?
                                     6) A conversation starter for visitors, or anyone else, who sees it.
                           And, one reader asked me:  "When you first looked at ... [it], were you 'stumped'?"
                           Perhaps someone who knows will see this and tell us what it really was meant to be.  If so, I will add that to this caption.  
 

Ne10. (north of Hiawatha Trl.[=H40]; NE� sec.23, T.43N.-R.11W.) Extra no. 15:   

            This relatively small, barnlike building is on the same property as the barn of the preceding entry, Ne9.  It was a granary and near a former dairy barn that burned in the 1930s.
 

Ne3. (north of Brotherton Rd.; SW� sec.2, T.43N.-R.12W.) Extra no. 16:

            This probably never was a barn as such -- i.e., it is just one of several recently built buildings that have the general features that resemble old barns.   BUT, what about that Elm tree! -- see inset