Service Yard Barns and Workshops

Built of brick and stone, the Service Yard Barns and Workshops continue to function as working spaces, their appearance all but unchanged over time.

The complex included: a men’s house, sheds, a blacksmith shop, barns, a manure pit, gates to the courtyard, and gasoline pumps and tanks.  There was a hand power elevator to get items into the upper lofts and the entire area was electrified.  Quite a feat for 1924.

In 1924, the Board of Corporators used D. A. Bohlen as the architect of the structures. He designed the Gothic Chapel, so was knowledgeable of the site. The contract for the construction noted that James Manufacturing Company, a Wisconsin manufacturer of livestock handling equipment, incubators, and ventilating systems, would supply much of the material. However, the actual construction was done by Latham and Walters.

Today, the Service Yard Barns and Workshops house storage for gas-powered machinery, a mechanics bin to work on the cars and trucks used on site, and the office of the superintendent.

Even though cars were allowed on property as early as 1912, the last workhorse in the cemetery stables was sold on February 7, 1933. Horses still make an occasional appearance on the grounds in conjunction with memorial ceremonies and family requests for funeral processions.