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The Round Barns of Western Wisconsin

© Peggy Hoehne

Celebrating Black History Month

Southeast of La Crosse, in eastern Vernon and southeastern Monroe counties, is the area known for having more round barns than any other area in the nation. One man is responsible for at least 15 of those round barns.

Alga (Algie) Shivers, an African American - son of a slave from Tennessee and a mother who was half Irish and half Indian, was born in 1889 in Forest, Wisconsin, where he lived his entire life.

His father, Thomas Shivers, settled in Vernon County in 1879. Thomas was an innovative farmer. He was interested in new technology and was the first in the area to buy a new tractor, to install a hot and cold water system in his house, and to use an electric generator system.

His son, Algie, seemed to have inherited much of that drive and ability. Algie attended George R. Smith College in Sedalia, Missouri, where he learned carpentry.

His brothers helped him build some of the barns. One brother, Ed, was known to work with him on the constructions. An article from the LaFarge Epitaph, November 7, 1979 says, "one to two years before construction was to begin Algie and his crew would enter the farmer's woodlot to cut the logs. When the wood was cured he and a two or three man crew came to give shape to a pile of boards. Actual construction took about three months."

Algie built all of his barns of wood. He kept written records of the amount of timbers and the cost to build a barn, as well as any other notes. He would help with barn raisings by getting the barn started before the neighbors came in to help.

One of Algie's first round barns was built was on the land he inherited from his father. He supervised construction of at least fifteen additional round barns in the area. Round barns were popular in the Midwest between 1890 and 1930. As dairy farming became firmly ensconced in Wisconsin in the late 1800s the round barn was found to be very suitable for many dairy needs.

Round barns were considered to be progressive. The agriculture colleges promoted them and farmers who built them were considered to be prosperous. A round barn cost less to build than a traditional rectangular barn. They used less lumber and took less time to build. The savings could be thirty-four to fifty-eight percent less than for a rectangular barn.