Built in the 1960s for the summer camp for young women run by May Mast, owner of Cottonwood Farm, this building served as a stable for the horses. The farm had 50 riding horses, bunkhouses, and a large activity center for the camp. The young women were given a taste of real rural living during their stay at camp.
The WTHS purchased the barn and the half acre of land on which it stands in 1999, increasing the Society’s land holding to just under 4 acres. For many years, this barn was used for storage of various materials and sheltered a variety of farm animals, from llamas to rabbits, during the Webster Fall Festival. The dirt floor was slowly washing down the hill every time it rained as rain water ran off the roof, down the north outside wall and through the barn. The barn was restored in 2019: Support posts were repaired, a concrete floor with a rat wall was poured, and a gutter was installed on the north side to control the rain running off the roof. The structure now boasts a “Mackinaw Island blue” ceiling to help prevent birds from nesting in the rafters.
