One of the most uniquely shaped attractions at the park is at
the end of 1905 street. Have a look behind the Henderson farm house
and you're sure to spot Henderson's round barn. This twenty sided
structure is one of the last round barns in Canada. It was built in
1898 on a dairy farm near Rabbit Hill and was moved to the park in
1972. The barn was featured in a John Candy's 1981 SCTV sketch
"SCTV Afterschool Special - Pepi Longsocks".
So why the interesting design? This style of barn proved to be
very appealing to farmers with large herds of livestock. Food was
held on the second floor loft and all of the animal stalls opened
into the middle of the barn. When it was time to feed the
livestock, the farmer shovelled feed into the middle of the barn
and all of the animals ate at once. Thomas Henderson was a pretty
interesting character.
Be sure to stop by the Henderson farm house and learn more about
some of his agricultural accomplishments.