MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP -- Piece by piece, workers are slowly tearing down a historic barn in Columbia County.
For nearly a century, this property provided shelter for those without food or a home. The barn is one of the only buildings left standing on the property known as the "Mount Pleasant Township Poor Farm."
According to Columbia County records, the barn has been there since the 1860s.
"My grandfather was superintendent here at one time, then my dad, and then me," Ray Hock said.
It's hard for Hock to watch as workers tear down the barn near Bloomsburg. His family was here for nearly 50 years helping those in need.
"The people that came here were fairly good. They just didn't have work during The Great Depression," Hock said.
This property, which is owned by Columbia County, was a place for storage until it recently started falling apart.
"We were going to pay one way or another. Doing it this way, we're getting the building torn down. We don't have liability and it's helping preserve Columbia County history," Columbia County Commissioner David Kovach said.
County commissioners donated $50,000 to a nonprofit organization at the Bloomsburg Fair. The money will be used to help tear down the barn. The money will also help the nonprofit build a new barn at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds.
The new barn will use the wood of the old barn. Bloomsburg Fair officials believe between 35-40% of the barn's wood can be salvaged.
The new barn they plan to build will look similar to the barn that was built at the fairgrounds in the 1940s.
"The idea then it'll have a loft in it where they can show a lot of the items on the loft on the second floor. We think it will be a significant addition to the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds," Bloomsburg Fairgrounds president Paul Reichart said.
Even though people are sad to see this barn coming down, they're happy to know that parts of it at least will be reused.
"I'm real happy to see it being redone down at the fairgrounds. At least I can still go down there. I can take my grandchildren down to show them so that they know where everybody came from," Doug Hock said.
Construction of the new barn at the Bloomsburg Fairground is expected to begin during fair week.
