How a Barn in Limestone Became a Huge Tourist Attraction

William B. Ward and G. Howard Nichols were good enough neighbors in the small town of Limestone, Maine. Nichols gave Ward needed feed for his livestock while Ward was building his landmark barn in 1920. But Nichols also had another interest in mind.

Ward's son, Homer Sr., described the conversation like this:

"How long is your barn?" Nichols asked.

"One hundred and ten feet," Ward replied.

"I'll guess I'll make mine 120," Nichols said. "How wide?"

George Howard Nichols.

"Fifty-five feet."

"I'll make mine 60. How high are the posts?"

"Twenty-five feet."

"I'll make mine 28."

Nichols' first and largest barn, designed in 1921 and finished a year later, was the biggest showplace around. Thousands of people traveled hundreds of miles to take the tour for only 25 cents each. It was the largest barn in Maine and may have been the biggest in New England. On some Sundays during tourist season, total admissions for the tour sometimes exceeded $400. Nichols also made the barn available for religious meetings.

William B. Ward.

Nichols' wife, described by historian George H. Collins as able to "tip the scales at about 250 pounds...a very pleasant woman," helped sell postcards featuring the barn.

The main structure stood seven stories high with an ell on one side measuring 44 x 60 feet and a woodshed 10 x 76 feet. An underground passage from the road was wide enough for two trucks, three cars, or an eight-horse team to drive through and turn around in the barn cellar and drive out to the road again.

The barn took over $80,000 to finish, and Nichols paid $70,000 in cash. The six-foot-high gold weathervane and more than 200 windows added to the building's expense.

The Ward barn was not so fancy but still was a very large structure. It had enough room to house hay and grain for six horses, 30 to 40 head of cattle, and four to 10 hogs. A stable 110 feet long on the east side housed the animals.

"It served as a recreation area for a lot of neighborhood kids who found its huge haymow and massive beams an irresistible playground," Homer Sr. wrote in 1980.

Then on the afternoon of March 8, 1924, a fire broke out in the horse stalls of the Nichols barn and spread so quickly that no one could enter the building to use a pressure tank. Unfortunately the closest water supply was a brook located about one-quarter of a mile from the building. There was no other water supply available to put out the flames.

According to The Standard, a Boston-based insurance newspaper, the loss was estimated at $90,000, while Nichols' insurance covered only $12,000.

Over 30 sheep, seven horses, and 20 cattle were destroyed.

Later, Nichols built a second barn, but for unexplained reasons, that too was later engulfed with flames. A much smaller barn was then built on the same spot.

And the Ward barn? The original stood for 60 years before fire claimed its dry beams in 1980.

Homer Sr. said there wasn't another barn like it in the state.