Minnesota landmark: The Frank Schott stone barn near Chokio
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Out on the fields of western Minnesota, the Frank Schott stone barn cuts an imposing and lonely silhouette.
It was 101 years ago that Schott, a German immigrant, started building the unique stone barn near Chokio. According to a Minnesota Historical Society history of the structure, it took nearly 20 years to complete — with Schott aiming to create a building that would endure the storms that had destroyed an earlier, wooden barn.
And endure it has, for decades. It lost its roof in the 1990s, but the stone-and-concrete barn still stands tall above the surrounding fields. It’s a quiet, lonely place; there are no farms or homes within a mile in all directions — contributing to the barn being a destination for some night-sky photographers.
The barn is located in Stevens County (by a hair — Big Stone County is across the road), about six miles southwest of Chokio and six miles southeast of Johnson.
Read more about the Frank Schott barn — and see a photo of the structure before it lost its roof — on MNopedia.
If you have a connection to the Schott barn — if it’s part of your family history, or maybe you just have a great photo of it that you’d like to share — let us know! Reach out via email at akrueger@mpr.org.
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