Midland’s Iconic Round Barn

By Loretta Sorensen
Updated on March 5, 2024
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by Loretta Sorensen
The back of this round barn reveals its original state dating to the era when it was used to house livestock, grain and hay.

Why do we love barns? I have no explanation for my own obsession, but I’ve found a red barn with a story more interesting than any I could have imagined.

I spotted this intriguing building, a round barn, along Interstate 90 in western South Dakota, near Midland. It’s part of the 1880 Town attraction that was established in 1979. The barn serves as the entrance to the “town.”

After digging into the history of the barn, I discovered that it started out as a barn kit sold by Chicago House Wrecking Co., located at 35th and Iron streets. According to early company catalogs, the company was established in 1893 and was later known as Harris Bros.

It appears that this company, though not specifically named in articles reporting on the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, was commissioned to deconstruct – or architecturally salvage – the buildings that were left vacant after the fair ended. “Since which time it has sold millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise throughout the world,” notes an undated Harris Bros. Co. catalog.

An online source identifies Harris Bros. as a small Chicago-based kit home company that started out as a house-wrecking company. Of the six national companies selling kit homes through mail-order catalogs, Harris Bros. was probably the least well-known.

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