The Buildings of O.C. Barber
History of the Private Estate of O.C. Barber
In about 1905, Barber retired from active participation in the Diamond Match Company and spent his retirement years in Barberton developing his experimental farm. His intent was to show that large-scale farming could be successfully conducted in much the same manner as a manufacturing concern.
The magnificent Anna Dean farm buildings included a total of 23 brick buildings with red tile roofs and concrete trim, all built in the French Renaissance Revival architectural style. Of these, only a few remain today: Barn No. 1, the Piggery, the Colt Barn, Brooder Barn, Poultry Office, and Heating House. His greenhouses, not gone, covered 12 acres. In 1911, just as the town he founded became a city, Barber was completing his palatial mansion on his property, where he would live the remainder of his life.
Visit Historic Places in Barberton
Barn No. 1
Built in 1909, Barn No. 1 was quickly dubbed the largest barn in the world. Located at 115 3rd St SE, this historic barn is on the National Register of Historic Places.
O. C. Barber Piggery
Built in 1912, the O. C. Barber Piggery – nicknamed the “Pork Palace” – is a historic farm building located at 248 Robinson Avenue on the Anna-Dean Farm.
Colt Barn
Built in 1910 on the south side of Anna Dean Lane the Colt Barn was originally used to house bulls and named Bull Barn No 2. In 1912, the barn was converted to house colts and mares.
Heating House
The 14,000 square foot, three-story Heating House on Robinson Ave was used to house both the double Stirling Boilers and the offices for the Anna Dean Farm Green Houses.
Diamond Match Historic District
North Machine Shop
27 Fourth Street, N.W.
The North Machine Shop is a long and narrow (370′ by 40′) two-story brick-bearing industrial building with gabled roof. Along with the foundry, it is the earliest of the Diamond Match engineering buildings. The Machine Shop was built in two phases, the oldest being the 12-bay section to the west, built in 1894. The eastern, 20-bay section of the building was added in 1896. Typical of the Diamond Match buildings, the architecture features raised piers between bays and corbelled brick at the roofline. Windows have segmental arched openings, with double rows of header bricks. Windows are blocked in on the ground floor, but remain with exterior coverings on the second floor. The entire building has a sandstone block foundation. The roof, which has been covered with asphalt shingles, has a raised brick fire wall at the mid-point between the two building sections. The two phases of construction are also characterized by differences in the spacing of bays, with the 1896 section having narrower bays, and by the use of sandstone sills in the original section and metal sills in the addition.
Attached to the building on its north side is the former blacksmith shop, also built in two sections in 1894 and 1896. One-story in height, this brick shed-roofed addition has a similar design to the main building, with piers between bays, segmental-arched openings and corbelled brick at the roofline. The west (1894) section has stone sills, while the later east section has metal sills. A recent one-story office addition also exists on the north elevation, located adjacent to the loading dock. On the west elevation, an early brick entrance vestibule exists, with original door and window treatment intact.
On the interior, the building has two floors, with wood post and beam construction. In the older western section, the posts are set 15′ on center, and chamfered with wood bracket at the connection with the beam. Posts in the eastern section are set 11′ on center and are unchamfered with metal bracket. Most walls and ceilings on the first floor are covered with a composite material and the floor is mostly concrete, although some areas of original wood flooring remain. The second level has its original wood floor and wood ceiling deck.
Foundry
21 Fourth Street, N.W.
The Foundry is a two-story brick-bearing industrial building seven bays by three bays (100′ by 60′), built in 1894. The building has a sandstone block foundation, a slate gabled roof, segmental arched windows with original triple-hung, 12/12/12 sash (covered on the outside), and sandstone window sills. Originally designed with a four-foot clerestory monitor, the building’s roofline appears to have been changed between 1894 and 1903. The traditional raised pier and corbelled brick design exists to the bottom of the second story window sills; brick from this point to the eave is different from that below.
Additions to the foundry include an elongated shed-roofed one-story extension across the west elevation, added c. 1920. On the east side is a similar addition which wraps to the south; it appears to incorporate two early (pre-1904) wings at the southeast corner of the building which housed the core ovens and toilette room. To the north is a small wing which attaches to the North Machine Shop. It began as a one-story gable-roofed section in about 1894; a second floor was added in recent years.
The interior of the building is clear span industrial space featuring exposed brick walls with piers every 15 feet and a wood truss system supporting the wood roof decking. The clerestory no longer exists. Tall triple-hung first floor windows and 12-pane upper windows were designed to admit adequate light into the space. The west addition has multipaned steel sash. The floor in the main building, earthen when the building was first constructed, is concrete today.
Pattern Shop
8 Second Street, N.W.
Built c. 1898, the Pattern Shop is a two-story 82′ by 40′ brick-bearing industrial building with gabled roofline. The 8-bay by 3-bay building sits on a raised sandstone block foundation. It exhibits the typical Diamond Match architectural teattires of raised piers between bays and corbelled brick at the cornice. Original 12/12 double hung windows remain in segmental-arched openings; a small number of openings have been blocked in. These include 2nd story openings where this building was connected by enclosed bridges to the machine shop buildings to the north and south. Original wood loading dock and man doors are located on three sides. On the east side, a new entry occupies the former location of a window. This building does not have any additions.
On the interior, the Pattern Shop features exposed brick walls and wood post and beam construction, with the weight of the posts carried on brick piers in the basement. Original wood floors remain exposed on first and second floors, and consist of 2″ by 8″ boards stacked on end and covered with finish boards. Low-level partitions have been added on both floors to serve the current use, along with a new gas furnace and duct work. The wood roof truss system is still visible at the 2nd floor level, along with the original wood roof decking.
South Machine Shop
3 Fourth Street, N.W.
The last building to be completed in the Diamond Match engineering complex was the Machine Shop located along the southern edge of the property. Built in 1903, this building (370′ by 75′) is the largest of the historic district buildings. Two stories in height, with a broad gabled roof, this machine shop is eight bays wide by 40 bays in length. The building displays the characteristic Diamond Match exterior design of bays set between raised piers with corbelled brick at the cornice. The machine shop retains its original wood windows set in segmental arched openings. They are triple hung, 6/6/6 on the first floor, and double hung, 6/6 on the 2nd floor. All windows have double-width brick headers and metal sills. At east and west gabled ends, the building has a central loading, bay with squared opening. The east opening originally accommodated a ra1lroad spur, evidence of which still exists. No additions have been added to this building.
The interior of the south Machine Shop building is a dramatic two-story space with central clear span from east to west that is surrounded by a mezzanine or balcony on four sides. The height from floor to roof trusses is 94′. The later date of this building is emphasized by the use of steel frame supports which allowed this clear span, versus the wooden post and beam construction in the earlier buildings. Evenly spaced steel columns rest on concrete footers beneath the building. A small number of first floor bays have been filled in to create office space, but this has almost no impact on the volume of this space. A highly-visible steel truss system supports the wood roof deck and ties into the columns at the mezzanine level. The roof originally had flat skylights on both slopes, which were removed in a re-roofing. The mezzanine retains its original railings, wood floor, and evidence of a pulley system which served the machine shop.