Exploring The Grounds of Fort Klock (Photo Essay) (Repost)

I posted a photo essay about our visit to Fort Klock on a family trip we took. If you're interested in seeing the inside of it, you can do so here. It's a great family-friendly place to go, and I recommend it for any children that are interested in history or wars.

Of course, the tour did not just end after viewing the inside. There were still some interesting things to see on the grounds.

Right outside the entrance to the house was, of course, the firepit. There was no well because the house itself was actually founded on top of an underground stream that had constant water running through it, so there was always a fresh supply of water right in the basement.



Just on the other side of the house, and flowing into the back yard, was a very pretty stream.









The next stop was the barn. It wasn't the original barn because that one had been burned down back in the early 1900s, which was when the last Klock decided to move out of the house.



The actual foundation of the true barn was still standing on the grounds, however, so it was pretty neat getting to see where the barn would have been, which was just a little ways away from the reconstructed barn.



In the upper portion of the barn there were these three interesting little holes that I was curious about, so I asked our guide.



Turns out, the original barn had them because it was used to store wheat and the holes were meant to allow owls to fly in and eat the mice and rodents that would gather where the wheat was. In the reconstructed barn, however, owls were not welcome. From the outside, you can tell that they covered the holes with plastic to keep them out.



After taking a second at the barn, it was off to the blacksmith house. This was the place where the bolts and nails and such for the house were built for the first reconstruction. Some members of the rifle association that bought the place were actual blacksmiths and, to preserve the integrity of the house, when they fixed the roof and rafters that needed replacing and such, the metal was actually made right here by hand, and the logs were cut and treated and everything on the grounds, too, so it would give that authentic hand-made feel. It took three years to build everything themselves and finish the house. Needless to say, when it had to be repaired the second time (all of them being almost ready to be senior citizens, if not already), they decided to take the easy way and buy all their materials.





In the blacksmith shop there was also stored a cannon that did indeed fire. It used to be kept out front for decoration and such, however some research into the historical accuracy of a cannon being at Fort Klock was discovered to be false, so it was put into storage here. In fact, there were THREE Fort Klocks in the area, so there was, indeed, a cannon that was located at A Fort Klock, but it wasn't this one.



On the other side of the grounds was the school house. It had been built around the same time period to educate the children, and it continued to be used even into the early to mid 1900s before the government shut it down.





And that, pretty much, summed up the tour. Like I've said before, it's a great family experience if you ever get to go. I had a wonderful time, as did my family, and it was quite neat to get to look at everything and learn so much about it. Not a bad way to spend around an hour of your time. ^_^

And, even better, on the ride back we got a really nice light show to cap off the evening.