Caney's Chicken Barn

On the drive home from work this past Friday, I turned onto Caney Road, rounded the first curve and I realized that my barn was gone.  I gasped as I looked at the vacant spot where it once stood. No, I don’t own a barn, but it felt like it was mine as I have captured it many times with my camera over the years.

I have know that its demise was imminent for quite some time but my heart sank nonetheless. A couple of  years ago Forsyth County purchased the land for green space and the old chicken barn would be a casualty of the re-purposed land.  In fact, as best as I can recall, the barn hadn’t been used since we moved into our nearby home in early 2001.

The barn provided for several good images over the years and I grew fond of it because I admired its quiet, almost forgotten beauty nearly every time I drove by.  I have aptly named it “Caney’s Chicken Barn” as it sits along Caney Road and I’m pretty sure it was used for chickens over the years based on its shape and size.  It enjoyed how the metal roof would be crinkled by heavy winds and the owner would somehow bend them back down within a few days. The pasture land around the barn would grow thick and green and then it would turn golden as the grass matured. The farmer would cut the grass, bale it up and it would start another cycle.

Progress is fine and I understand why it needed to go. It had certainly begun falling in on itself this past year from neglect. Both ends of the roof had fallen considerably the last time I photographed the barn the day after Christmas 2010 when it was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow.

Old barn you will be missed, but not forgotten. Enjoy!