“My dad built this barn around 1947-48,” said Jane (Goins) Johnson, Duane’s daughter, who lives on a farm west of Yetter.

That acreage, located just southwest of Goins Park in Lake City, has been home to Johnson’s oldest daughter, Ali Batz, since May of 2020. “My family didn’t own this place when I was growing up, so I didn’t spend time here as a kid,” said Batz, whose family loves the barn. “This place felt like home, though, as soon as I moved in.”

The barn pre-dates Batz’s house. Duane Goins built the barn not long after he married his wife, Mickey, in 1946. The newlyweds lived for a time with Goins’ father, Bill, in a big, two-story house that used to stand on the property. After Goins built the barn, he built a new ranch-style home northeast of the barn in the 1950s.

“My dad bought a brick-making machine and made his own bricks out of cement,” said Johnson, whose father was a bricklayer and stonemason throughout his long career. “He could make any size brick he wanted to. My mom was in charge of watering the bricks down as they cured.”

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Jane Johnson and her daughter Ali Batz stand outside of Batz’s barn near Lake City. The barn was built around 1947 or 1948 by Johnson’s father, Duane Goins.

Much of Goins’ craftsmanship is still visible around Lake City, including brick houses, raised brick flowerbeds outside various homes, the stone facade on the Lake City Veterinary Clinic, the stonework at the Capri movie theater, and the gate pillars at the Lake City Cemetery.

“His handiwork is everywhere,” Johnson said.

The high quality of his work is evident in Batz’s barn.

“The barn is structurally sound,” said Batz, who has been repainting the trim and plans to replace some of the windows.

While the barn’s interior is not huge, it offers enough space to shelter some livestock, including Batz’s beef cattle, Bert and Ernie.

Previous owners also raised cattle in this barn. After Jason Heffelmeier purchased a cow at a livestock auction in Denison, she gave birth to triplets in the barn on April 5, 2008, an event that was reported in Farm News.

While various families have lived on the acreage since the Goins family sold the property in the late 1960s, Batz is glad it’s her new home.

“My family history and the barn were big draws for this place,” she said. “It’s perfect for an in-town acreage.”