Loss of an Old Friend : The Old Barn on Mayhew Inn Road in Garrett County, MD.

The Old Barn in Better Days in January 2010. Photo by Rob Paine/Copyright 2015

I learned this morning via the Deep Creek Times and then The Republican Newspaper that the roof of a beloved historical Garrett County (MD) landmark, the old barn on Mayhew Inn Road finally succumbed to the elements this month. The Republican link includes an up to date photo taken by another local photographer of the fully collapsed roof. (please see more photos below)

I made my first trip to Deep Creek Lake nearly 10 years ago. I remember being told as a photographer, one of the first things you have to see is the beautiful barn on Mayhew Inn Road which is on the way to Swallow Falls State Park.

The earliest photo I shot of the barn that I can find was the January 2010 photo shown above. I have run several posts on ISBAA documenting the barn’s decline. The structure’s demise seemed to accelerate after Super Storm Sandy dumped an incredible amount of wet and heavy snow on Western Maryland in 2012.

Below are some of the other photos of the barn I have posted over the past 18 months or so.

Posts on the barn rank as the most viewed entries on this blog.

If you are interested in seeing a lot of great photos of old and beautiful barns from across the country, please check out the Old Barns Facebook Page which has upwards of 2700 members. It is an incredible homage to our country’s farming culture and the unique aspects of barns, a way of life that in many places is sadly slipping away. The group describes itself this way : “For those of us who find old barns interesting, appealing and even noble.”

Garrett County is full of beautiful barns, but no other structure had the character and spunk that this one did. The Old Mayhew Inn Road barn weathered many a storm before Super Storm Sandy and held on as long as it could after the devastating Sandy. The barn was indeed noble as well as a model of endurance from a time gone by . It will be sorely missed.

Before I forget, I have never met the family that owns the barn, but I would like to thank them for keeping the barn in place for as long as they did.

Driving down this road will never be the same without it.

R.I.P Old Barn, January 2015