Northern pump show barn

The massive barn once part of the Northern Pump Farms is located off of McCullom Lake Rd. in the northwestern part of the City of McHenry. Behind the barn is McCullom Lake. City of McHenry purchased the barn stable and the 68 acres in 1994 from M. H. Mass.

The barn was built in 1941 by Frank C. Howard, a Chicago industrialist and gentleman farmer, who had a foundry that manufactured airplane parts during WW II. He used the 350-foot long stable for his American Saddlebred horses before converting it in 1945 to a Holstein cattle operation. In 1951, he sold the business to Jack Hawley and changed from a Holstein farm to Herefords. Northern Pump purchased the property in 1958 before it being acquired by M. H. Mass, the last private owner of the land.

The Northern Pump Farms, a subsidiary of the Northern Pump Co. in Minneapolis, MN, was organized by J. B. Hawley as the fourth largest cattle breeder in the country. The herd was moved from Minnesota, to Colorado and then to McHenry County in 1954. The farm had 3,000 acres of land. It was home of 2,000 choice Hereford cattle. The cattle were sold in October 1977 which ended the operation for Northern Pump Farms.