Koessl Barn

This barn was built in 1887 and was once the dominant building on the Ed Koessl Sr. farm, which was located on Highway 57 near the intersection with Highway 42, where the Birchwood Lodge stands today. The center structure was moved intact down Highway 57 to its present location in the winter of 2001.

The Koessl barn was built in the “post and beam” style of construction. This is a system in which two posts (the upright members) hold up the beam, which is laid horizontally across the top surfaces of the posts. No nails were used in the construction of the barn. Instead, the beams were fitted together in tongue and groove-style using handcrafted wooden pegs.

This barn was built in 1887 by Michael Semes, who owned the first hotel and saloon in Sister Bay. At one time, the barn served as Sister Bay’s livery stable, and was used for stagecoach horses. Semes sold the barn to the Koessls around 1900. When developers bought the Koessl farm around 2000, they donated the Barn to the Historical Society. When the Barn was on the Koessl property, it had a silo, and there was a log structure attached to one side of the Barn that was used as a cow barn.

Inside the Barn you’ll find a number of items that would have been in a barn of this type including: the pulley that would have been used to get hay in and out of the loft, a stanchion used for milking the cows, plus other pieces of old farm equipment. The Barn also currently houses some interesting examples of winter-time transportation from many years ago — for example, an ice boat, and the Sister Bay mail sleigh.

Koessl Barn: https://sisterbayhistory.org/museum/the-koessl-barn/