Historic Wolcott Barn Becomes Event Venue
WHITE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) — The Governor's Pavilion in Wolcott has a rich history, but today it serves as an event venue.
“This barn is really amazing," said Co-Owner of the barn, Missy Wealing. "It was originally constructed around 1896 they think.”
While the barn currently stands in Wolcott, Wealing says that not where the historic building was originally located.
“It was originally located northeast of Kentland and it was built by Warren McCray who was later the 30th Governor of Indiana," said Wealing.
McCray was very involved in the cattle industry.
He built this barn as a show pavilion for his livestock auctions in the early 1900's.
People from around the world would attend.
“Later down the road it was sold for $1 to John Wagner out of Lafayette and he moved it," said Wealing. "He numbered all the piece, had a crew come and dismantle it and move it here. It’s about 22 miles from its original location to here.”
Wealing says the owners at that time did a great job keeping the original look when it was rebuilt, including the paint color.
“There’s been some modifications over the years like roofing materials and things like that, that are just not possible to replicate," said Wealing. "But for the most part it looks very similar to what it did.”
Wealing and her family lived near the barn and admired its beauty for years. Finally, it came up for sale.
“When it came up for sale we were like oh yes we have to buy this, this is so cool," said Wealing.
The Wealing family bought the property, including the barn, in 2020.
"When we bought the property we spent about a year doing maintenance, got a fresh coat of paint on the barn, did a lot of landscaping," said Wealing. "There were a few out buildings that needed to be removed, so we spent a lot of time doing that the first year. Our first official year of events was last year. We had about 6 or 8 different events throughout the year."
They immediately worked hard to turn it into an event venue.
Wealing says they've had a lot of great feedback from members in the community.
“We do not have a lot of availability for large parties in this area, so it’s worked out great. People could come out and bring all of their friends and family. There’s plenty of space.”
Wealing says it’s been a dream come true to own these piece of Hoosier history and host events so everyone can enjoy it.
“There’s a reason we save historic buildings. You can’t duplicate them," said Wealing. "They’re one of a kind and I think it’s important that we get that chance to teach future generations about our history.”
If you would like to learn more about the historic Hoosier barn, click here.
