Barn # 409 Sporseen Farm
River Road
GONE! East side of Sporseen Road, south of Happy Valley
Otto Sporseen and family homesteaded in the west end of Happy Valley in the early 1900's. Sporseen Road marks the location of the farm - there was a house and barn and several other small buildings. When Otto died in 1959 the farm was sold. His son Sol told stories of travelling to neighboring farms during a heavy snow and cabling the barns together to keep the snow load from collapsing them - one did fall, killing the land owner.
The picture above (submitted by a family member) shows the barn while the Sporseens still owned the land. At some point after the farm was sold the property was subdivided into more than a dozen large lots and the old barn came down. Bits and pieces have been recycled into the small red building, while a couple of the little out-buildings are still trying to stand. There are a few homes in the area now, while other lots are still vacant, so the rural character has been somewhat maintained.
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 Same view, fifty years later (Click here to enlarge picture) |
