This giant barn served several different purposes through the years. Originally, it probably held some of the 30-plus oxen kept on the ranch as draft animals. In the 1950s it stored hay for cattle that were being fattened up in an attached corral.

The original barn dated from the 1860s or 1870s and was constructed with a heavy frame of large fir timbers held together by mortise-and-tenon joints and wooden pegs. The redwood siding was attached with square-cut nails typical of the late 1800s. In 2014-2015 the original barn was dismantled and rebuilt using the same timber frame construction technique.

Although much of the original wood had badly deteriorated, some of the original timbers and siding were reused. These are darker in color and clearly visible from inside the barn. The reconstructed Hay Barn is used by the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems or CASFS (aka “The Farm”).To learn more about the raising of the hay barn click here.

Come To The Event!

Come join us in the newly constructed Hay Barn for campus’s 50th anniversary History Fair on October 24th from noon to 4:00pm. Admission is free and open to the public however, any donation is much appreciated. You can’t beat free parking, refreshments, and learning about local history before UC Santa Cruz was established. To learn more about the event including the list of speakers and informational topics, click here.

Take the Self-Guided Mobile Tour

This piece is part of UCSC Lime Kilns Tour by Frank Perry on behalf of The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.

The content for this blogpost and the AppTour was prepared by The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, University of California, Santa Cruz, and is © 2015 by The Friends. Much of the information is from the book, Lime Kiln Legacies: The History of the Lime Industry in Santa Cruz County. The book can be purchased at the Museum of Art and History in person or on-line. It’s also available through Amazon.com.

If you take the AppTour tour you will see that some of the historic buildings have been put to modern uses by the University. Others remain unused but are gradually being restored with private gifts of funding and materials. For more information on how to help, contact the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District. This UCSC friends group is dedicated to researching, preserving, and teaching about the history of this historic site.