Heritage Photos  TM-SPHA Special Places - Highlights #1

1. Berns Granary



The Berns Granary   

The Berns brothers, Xavier and Guido, came from the United States to the Tilston area in 1911, following in the footsteps of their father, Henry. They each purchased land and set themselves up as successful farmers. When I drove into this yard, after admiring the fine 4-square home, I noticed the distinctive roofline on this outbuilding, placed farther back on the yard.

The building is a four compartment granary – a version of a farm elevator, some of which still can be seen on old farm sites.  This one had an upper compartment, from which the grain flowed through a seed cleaning plant, and into one of the four compartments.

I feel that our history books generally ignored the wealth of innovation evident in individual farming operations. 

In this case the inventiveness may have been facilitated by the fact that these farmer were essentially immigrants, perhaps bringing ideas from across the border.