Howard Nichols' Colossal Barn
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Cache located across the road from the site of New England's (and possibly the country's) largest barn that's no more. You will need to bring a pencil to sign the log as I forgot to put one in the cache.
In 1920, G. Howard Nichols of Limestone vowed he would build the biggest barn in the country. It was war, of sorts, between him and his neighbors. When the hammers stopped pounding two years later, the barn was a seven story tall structure that people traveled miles to see.
The first $10 per barrel potato year for Aroostook County farmers was in 1919 at the end of World War I. That year, potatoes were raised for less than $1 a barrel. Suddenly wealthy, formally hard pressed farmers cast off worrisome mortgages and worn-out implements and turned to bigger barns to hold greater herds of cattle and modern machinery. G. Howard Nichols, a shrewd, hard working Limestone farmer, who could neither read nor write, built the farm showplace of Aroostook in 1922. From an exactly scaled 6 foot model, wittled out by Nichols with a pocket knife from 2x2 inch lumber, contractors were able to build a spectacular, seven story showcase for the Nichols' animals.
*Quarter of a milliopn feet of lumber
*Five carloads of cement
*200 windows, some of which were stained glass
*108 steel beams
*150 foot underground passageway leading from the road
*Main structure was 60 by 120 feet
*Cupola was 14 feet wide, 20 feet long, 10 feet high
*Lifesize copper cow weathervane covered with gold-leaf, nearly 100 feet from the ground, with a cost of $1,000
*$80,000 building cost
On Sundays, before the hay was put in, church services, complete with pews and organ, were held on the barn floor. Nichols was proud to hear them fine old hymns ringing from the rafters.
Crowds would travel to Limestone to see this colossal castle Nichols built for his cows and horses, when the barn was taking shape, people thought Nichols was either trying to show off or was crazy. He wanted to build a bigger barn than Limestone farmer Homer Ward, Sr. Construction continued and capenters were tripping all over curious folks peeking and poking into every corner. Nichols got the idea of charging admission to those same curious folks to see his barn. His neighbors just shook their heads and wondered who'd be fool enough to pay to see Howard's cowshed. However, according to a newspaper account, the day came when you could count up to 500 Maxwells and Model T Fords in the Nichols' front yard -- and on Sundays upward of 1,000 visitors forked over 25 cents cash for the privilege of tramping through the Nichols barn and outbuilding. With many visitors getting hungry while looking around, Nichols enticed Tom Hartley of Caribou to move his restaurant to his barn to accommodate the folks. Nichols would take the crowds through the 150 foot long underground tunnel, big enough for two trucks or three cars to haul feed or produce into the barn, to show them that a team of eight horses could move through the passageway and turn around under the barn. The lower floor of the main barn had stables for cows and horses, sheep pens and hen pens. Nichols built himself a comfortable room filled with a couch and chairs. Meanwhile, Mrs. Nichols was selling pictures and postcards whild Nichols collected $100 a day for guide service and typical Sundays brought in $400. Two years later on a windy March day in 1924, fire broke out in the haymow. Before it was done, it had consumed the barn house, 22 head of cattle, six horses, 33 sheep and 20 lambs. The 100 pigs in the cellar were saved by the solid construction. THe consuming inferno was seen as far as Caribou, Fort Fairfield and nearby Canada. Nichols' loss was $150,000, his insurance $12,000. It was reported that it was the largest loss sustained by any farmer in New England. Thirteen days later, the granary was set on fire and destroyed, and arsonists made an attempt to burn the potato house. During the next few years, Nichols worked a little harder and a little longer to "come back" and build other barns and houses on the same location, only to see them go up in smoke because of what he called "hard feelings and jealousy". Nichols and his family moved into the cellar of the barn and lived there for seven years as he built a second smaller barn on the same foundation. In another fire of suspicious orgin, Nichols lost 11 head of cattle and 17 horses. Damage was estimated at $47,000. He had $5,000 insurance. Nichols died in 1953 at age 85. The Howard Nichols saga of three wives and eight children who worked in the fields with him, the colossal castles he built for his prized cows, and rich farms in Limestone, Fortfairfield, Mars Hill and Washburn will remain alive through people who "remember when".
Please replace and hide cache back where you found it so other may enjoy finding it.
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