John and Katharine Tunkun Podjun Farm facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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John and Katharine Tunkun Podjun Farm
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 Location in Michigan
Location in the United States
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| Location | 9581 E 1 mi. Rd., Ellsworth, Michigan |
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| Area | 120 acres (49 ha) |
| Built | 1914 |
| Architectural style | I-house |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000160 |
| Added to NRHP | March 13, 2002 |
The John and Katharine Tunkun Podjun Farm is a special old farm located in Ellsworth, Michigan. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This means it's an important place that helps us understand history. The farm is found at 9581 East 1 Mile Road and shows us what farming life was like many years ago.
Contents
A Farm's Story: The Podjun Family
The story of the Podjun Farm begins with John Podjunus. He came to America from Lithuania around 1897 or 1898. When he arrived, he made his name shorter to Podjun. He first lived in Boston and then moved to a coal-mining area in southern Illinois. There, he built a house in Johnston City, Illinois.
In 1904, John married Katharine Tunkun. She was the sister of one of his friends who also came from Lithuania. After some years, John and Katharine had two children. They started thinking about moving to a new place. They saw an advertisement in a Lithuanian newspaper for land in Lake County, Michigan. Other Lithuanian families had already moved to this area in the late 1800s. They were drawn by the chance to work in the timber industry and to farm.
Starting the Farm in Michigan
John and Katharine Podjun bought the land for their farm in 1914. They moved there in the summer of that year. At the time, the land had just been cleared of trees. John Podjun immediately started working hard to clear the land even more. He created fields for crops, an orchard for fruit trees, and areas for animals to graze. He also made a large garden.
The Podjuns also began building their home. They first built a small house, which is now the back part of the main farmhouse. Then, they started on the main section of the barn, finishing it in 1916. Over the next 15 years, they slowly built more farm buildings. These included a granary (for storing grain), a corn crib (for drying corn), a machine shed (for farm equipment), and a chicken house. They also added more space to the barn.
The Farm Through the Years
John Podjun stopped farming in 1953 and passed away the next year. Katharine Podjun continued to live on the farm until she passed away in 1973. Their daughter, Amelia Podjun Baker Yost, then lived there until her death in 1995. After Amelia's passing, the farm was inherited by her children: Paul Ross Baker, Amelia C. Jayne, and Kathleen McNeel.
What Does the Podjun Farm Look Like?
The Podjun Farm covers 120 acres of land and is shaped like the letter "L". It has many different parts. You can find crop fields, an orchard, and areas where animals graze. There's also a woodlot, pine tree plantations, and areas of cedar swamp. The main part of the farm has several buildings. These include the farmhouse, a big barn, a granary/corn crib, and a machine shed. Small springs on the property are actually the start of the Little Manistee River!
The Podjun Farmhouse
The Podjun house is a two-story building with a pointed roof on the sides. It's built in a style called an I-house. There's also a one-story section at the back. This back part was the original home, built in 1914. The house is covered with wooden siding. A porch is in the middle of the front of the house, supported by brick pillars. The front part of the house is about 28 feet long and 16 feet wide. It has a living room and a bedroom downstairs, and two bedrooms upstairs. The back section has the kitchen and a utility room.
The Big Barn
The barn is made of two sections connected to form an "L" shape. The first part of the barn was built in 1914-1915. It has a special roof shape called a gambrel roof. It has a sliding entrance door and sits on a foundation made of fieldstones. This part is about 60 feet long and 40 feet wide. In 1930, another section was added. This part has a regular pointed roof and sits on a concrete foundation. It's about 42 feet long and 32 feet wide.
Both parts of the barn are built with strong beech timbers. The lower level of the original barn has thirty oak stalls for cows. It also has two double stalls and two single stalls for horses, all set along a center walkway. The added section's lower level is a calf barn with pens for young cows and places to feed them. The upper part of the barn is used for storing hay and straw for bedding.
The Machine Shed
The machine shed is a building about 16 feet by 30 feet. It has an unevenly shaped pointed roof and was built in the 1920s. It has a concrete foundation and vertical wooden siding with three sets of doors. Inside, there's a workbench. There's also the base for an electrical generator. This generator was used until 1940 to provide electricity to the farm.
The Granary and Corn Crib
The granary is a building with a pointed roof, measuring 18 feet by 10 feet. One end is the granary, and the other is a corn crib. The granary part has vertical wooden boards on the outside. The corn crib part has wooden slats, which allow air to circulate and dry the corn. This building rests on individual fieldstones at each corner.
The farm also has other interesting remains. You can see the foundations of a round wooden silo and a small chicken coop. There are also the remains of a well and pump. A garage was built in the 1970s. A old farm lane runs from the barnyard to One Mile Road. It crosses the Little Manistee River over a small concrete slab bridge built in 1931.
