Discover Bath Barns: Beers family barn

by Laura Bednar

Bath Township’s Heritage Corridors of Bath Committee manages one of 27 designated scenic byways in the state of Ohio. The Heritage Corridors of Bath byway, established in 2001, covers 39 miles of road entirely within the township and is designed to tell the story of Ohio’s Western Reserve from the Bath Township perspective: Preserve the rural heritage and maintain the bucolic landscapes for all to enjoy.

When traveling the byway, more than 30 barns are visible with many over 100 years old and several listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The history and heritage of these barns, like many in Ohio, are fading from memory.

Bath Township trustees decided to address this problem and in 2023 created a committee – Discover Bath Barns – as a means to preserve and enhance the heritage represented by these barns. This group, part of the larger Heritage Corridors of Bath Committee, has partnered with the Bath Country Journal to publish a series of articles about some of the barns along the byway.

Barn history

The Beers family barn on N. Medina Line Rd. was constructed circa 1895, according to a 2010 Bath Country Journal article. Legend is the structure is the second barn; the first was leveled by a tornado with some pieces from the original salvaged for the new construction.

The land has been occupied since 1830, when John Kent came to Bath and lived on the farm with his wife and six children.

James Black, originally from Richfield, is thought to have purchased the property in the early 1880s. According to another legend, the last bear in Bath was shot just feet from the barn when the Black family lived there. His family moved to Bath in 1910 and lived on the property for a couple decades before selling it to John and Emma Karasek in the 1930s. The Reichert family became owners in the 1940s, and then the Billman family took ownership fewer than five years later, according to the article.

Fred and Mary Bleichrodt purchased the home and barn in 1948 and raised four children there. They used the barn to hold events such as barn sales and Halloween parties. One of their sons, Dave, was friends with Jim Schrank, whose daughter Emily Beers now owns the home and barn with her husband, Michael.

Marcia Bleichrodt took over the property and maintained the house, barn and grounds with help from the family before selling to John Dillon in 2003. Dillon had planned to move into the home for his retirement but left the century home and barn vacant for five years.

Beers and her husband bought the property in 2008, and had their work cut out for them.

The barn at N. Medina Line Road was built circa 1895. Photos by Laura Bednar.

Beers barn

The barn is a bank barn, built into sloped ground with two floors both accessible from the ground level. The bottom houses five horses: two retired police horses, one active duty police horse with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, and two horses that Beers’ children ride with the Bath Pony Club. The second floor has storage for hay, which the family bales, and farming equipment.

A long metal pole along the top of the roof with a rope missing a grappling hook was once used to grab and move hay bales, according to Jim Schrank.

Aside from a paint job, window replacement, new gutters, drainage and a roof, the barn and its foundation remain original. Beers said the east and north sides of the barn foundation are made of barn stone and the south and west sides are field rock. In 2000, she said the barn was pulled upright as it was beginning to lean.

When Beers and her husband took over the property, the barn’s bottom floor had a drywall ceiling and was being used as a garage. It was restored as a horse barn, and Beers said she and Michael built stalls using wood her father milled from Westwood Farm. They also removed the cement cow trough running through the middle of the floor. The year 1908 is still visibly etched into the original cement.

The cement on the first floor of the barn has the year 1908 etched into it.

Other personal touches are found on wooden beams on the second floor, where presumably previous residents carved their initials with the years 1915 and 1933. Marcia Bleichrodt’s initials are also carved, with the year 1959.

The barn has an even more personal connection for Beers, as it is the spot where she and her husband got engaged and later held their wedding. Beers said her husband proposed the day they put the “sold” sign in the yard. And when torrential rains altered their wedding plans in 2010, 250 guests came and danced the night away in the barn.

Beers said she enjoys owning a piece of history. “Somebody cared about this barn, and we owe it to them to show it the same care and attention,” she said. “We’re making memories here and appreciate the memories others have made. The barn will always be there.” ∞

The top floor of the barn is used for hay storage but was once host to a wedding reception.

Photo (main/above): The barn in 2008 before the Beers family restored the first floor and redid the lower roof. Photo submitted.