KIRKSVILLE, MO -- In honor of national historic preservation month, KTVO is spotlighting historic sites around the Heartland.
East of Kirksville sits a barn that is unlike any other you've ever seen.
“When they put us on the national register they said that this was very unique, they hadn't see another one like it in ten states because of the block foundation and walls and it's perfectly round and dome shaped,” said Owner Dan Vogt.
The round barn was built in 1913 by the Orie Smith family. At a cost of about $3300, it took a handful of men about a year to build the barn. It's obviously most well known for its unique structure.
“When people come to visit that's the first thing they do is stare up at the dome ceiling from the inside and can't believe it,” Vogt said.
For 80 years, the barn was used like any other barn.
“This was their life, this is what they did. They put up hay, they had animals,” Vogt said.
After purchasing the barn from Benny Smith 11 years ago, Vogt gave the barn a new look and re-shingled the roof, something he had to do again after last year's tornado. Vogt uses the barn to host blues shows and musical acts.
“This is the most beautiful facility to do something like that because acoustically it's perfect. It's round and it's wood and it's shaped like an upside down speaker, you know it's a dome, so the music never sounded better than it does inside this barn,” Vogt said.
If you know how to paint and remodel, Vogt says you should think about restoring historical buildings, a new respect he learned after fixing up this piece of Kirksville's past.
“You know you have some heritage, you know how things used to be 100 years ago and if you tear it down, it's lost,” Vogt said.
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