Photo 85-KKA-4

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The Teeple Barn was built in 1885 by dairy farmer Lester Teeple. It was 80 feet tall and covered 13,500 square feet. The barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It stood for 122 years, until high winds caused its collapse on May 24, 2007. Preservation groups had worked for many years to stabilize and restore the barn before its collapse, but those efforts were too late to save it from nature. It was the last 16-sided barn in Illinois. One week prior to its collapse, Larry Kanfer photographed the barn for his book "Barns of Illinois", published in 2009.

The Teeple Barn was also featured in "A Barn Sampler: Rural Architecture in Kane County". This booklet was a 1977 study prepared for Kane County Urban Development by the graduate students of Landscape Planning at the Illinois Institute of Technology. During an era of intense urban sprawl, the study was designed for awareness of the "beauty and historical importance of our farms." In his introductory letter to the citizens of the county, Kane County Board Chairman Philip B. Elfstrom noted "It is my hope that Kane County will be in the forefront not only in efforts to preserve farmland, but also farm structures."

Meanwhile, urban sprawl continued and many barns came down, including the round one above, but not because of real estate development. Most of the buildings on this property were cleared for the nut factory sometime between 1980 and 1994, but the round barn remained.

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Do you have a connection to this photograph? Maybe you grew up here or know someone who did? What has changed in the 52 years since this photo was taken? Tell us!