Passenger trains in the United States vs Europe
The Arcadia Round Barn is an iconic landmark and tourist attraction on historic U.S. Route 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma. It was built by local farmer William Harrison Odor in 1898 using native bur oak boards soaked while green and forced into the curves needed for the walls and roof rafters. In 1926, State Highway 7 through Arcadia, still unpaved, was designated U. S. Highway 66, part of the new national highway system with it finally being paved in 1929.
In April of 1946, ownership of the barn passed to Frank and Katie Vrana. For the next 30 years, Vrana used the barn to store hay and as a workplace. A large door cut into the northeast side of the barn weakened the structure and high winds from a storm caused the barn to lean. By 1977, when the Arcadia Round Barn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the structure was rapidly decaying, the target of vandals and arsonists.
Luke Robison, a retired builder, and carpenter became aware of the barn’s plight and formed The Arcadia Historical and Preservation Society with his wife Anna and Beverly White. On May 27, 1988, Frank Vrana's descendants donated the barn to the Society. Robison had just begun to shore up the structure a few days before when, on June 29, 1988, at 12:09 pm, the decaying roof of the barn “just kind of sighed and fell in," according to one witness. The Society remained undeterred, determined to proceed with the restoration. Restoration work began in 1989 and was completed in April 1992. In November of 1993, the National Trust for Historic Preservation honored those involved in the restoration of the Round Barn with a National Honor Award for outstanding craftsmanship and preservation.
My car in front of the same barn.
