The Western Story

The Story of “THE BARN”

Drawing by Jerry Boshnell, 1981

The original auditorium was a rather primitive Quonset-style structure. In January 1971, after a night of heavy rain on top of snow, the Winthrop Auditorium collapsed. Later, as merchants were working to transform Winthrop back to its original mining town look in anticipation of the opening of the North Cascades Highway, the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion got things started, the community rallied, and the auditorium, now known as The Barn, was built. It was built entirely by community and volunteer efforts and took three years to complete.

The Methow pioneers and, down through the years, valley people have always been known for their friendliness, helpfulness and hospitality. Latchstrings were always out. The usual greeting when one rode up to a house

or a whole family arrived was, “Well, get off (or out), tie-up and come in and eat. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes”. Bachelors often dropped into other bachelor’s shacks and if the owner was not home the visitor was expected to cook his own meal and do the dishes before leaving.

Today the barn is still the meeting place of many local groups much as it was way back when. There are ten on the Board of Directors - four officers and two alternate board members - who oversee the operation of the barn. There are three employees: a rentals manager, a part-time bookkeeper, and a part-time cleaning person. Because the barn is a non-profit organization, our members are all volunteers and we are always searching for donations of time, labor and equipment. The barn is a non-smoking establishment.