What's this building for?
Blog: Culture Check
November 22, 2009
Some of you whiz-kids out there are certain to know the purpose of the structure in this photo, but last weekend I was having a difficult time figuring it out.
It's about the size of a small house, but has no roof. It's open to the sky. It's tightly made of overlapping wood planks. It has two chambers inside, divided by a wooden wall. The front has two square, window-like openings and, just below, smaller openings covered by metal plates. It appears to be in excellent shape, and it's probably really old.
It's located high above Rufus Woods Lake, about five miles south of Bridgeport on Pearl Hill Road. An enormous basalt boulder, no doubt a local landmark, lies about 200 feet away.
At first I thought this thing was a place to store grain, but it's a couple of miles (I think) to the nearest wheat field. Maybe it stores cattle feed? Apples? Water? (It doesn't look waterproof.)
Whatever its use, the structure's clean design and tight construction are admirable. Plus, it has a monolithic feel on that spare landscape.
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joanne 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
I haven't a clue!
2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
It looks like a wooden grain elevator that was never completed. Does it have a concrete floor?
irwin 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Yes! It has a concrete floor. But would there be a reason to build a grain elevator in this location? It's not very close to a wheat field and pretty far from the river. No railroad, either, although it IS close to a road. Hmm, yes. Maybe an elevator that was never completed.
francis 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Its an army, Indian lookout.Ive seen many in the San Diego mountains,with no roof and steel plates about the same size.Thats my guess.
irwin 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Wow ... that'd be great to have an Army lookout station just south of Bridgeport. I must admit, that was what I WANTED it to be when I first walked around it. My imagination was running wild.
2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Tell me a little about the wood planks; Are they creosote treated? I ask because you say it appears to be really old, but in excellent condition even though completely exposed to all the elements. If the wood reeked of aromatic creosote oil then it definitely wasn't designed with grain storage in mind.
irwin 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Mavulous ... you know your stuff. I didn't smell creosote but the wood looked stained by something dark. Maybe it was just a dark wood, but I'm not sure what that would be. Hmm ... I wish I'd sniffed it.
Orphanthall 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
This is a wooden grain bin. The roof has blown off as is common with structures that age. They were built by stacking 2 x material flat and nailing them on top of each other.
Just because there is no wheat field there now does not mean there never has been. Often, they were not built by the field, but by the farmstead where the farmer lived. Much of that land near Pearl Hill is in wheat fields enrolled in the CRP program and planted to native vegetation.
There are hundreds of these still standing in North Central Washington.
2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
We used to call these structures jackhouses, but for the life of me I can't find a definition for that term anywhere. I've never heard of the roof blowing off of any of them either. Builders used very long 2X4s nailed flat with overlapping ends to interlock the structure on all four sides and all four corners. This very stout construction usually produced four separate storage chambers to house various types or classes of grain. The structures were incredibly strong and required a huge amount of wood to construct. They have been rapidly disappearing all across the Big Bend country of our state as well as the prairies of the Mid-West and Canada. As a young man we delivered wheat to both Moody and Ruff storage facilities in both Adams and Grant Counties. I always marveled at the quality of old growth Doug fir that they used in these wooden jackhouses. It was virtually clear and knot-free. The structural beams and members were of outstanding quality and exhibited few cracks after many, many decades of service. Within the last ten years they tore down these magnificent wooden structures entirely and huge concrete and metal storage facilities now stand in their place--not nearly as distinctive and plenty ugly and boring to boot. I guess that's progress.
irwin 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Orphanthall and Mavulous ... I find your depth of knowledge in this matter most humbling. Of course, you're both right. The structure is a grain bin -- old, strong, but maybe missing its roof and other parts. Many thanks for sharing the details.
alex39 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Rats, I was hoping it was a star trek outpost where once the folks from the Federation's starship Enterprise returned from the future to examine the past hoping to help the future of all life forms in the universe. Double Rats.
"...Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone..."
a grain bin with a concrete floor tomorrow's parking lot. (sorry Joni)
irwin 2 years, 2 months ago
What's this building for?
Remnants of interplanetary outposts are always found on backroads out in the middle of nowhere. You can count on it. This one, even in its abbreviated form, used a huge amount of wood, as noted in other comments. Hundreds of these structures across eastern Washington would have required quite a few forests, I'd think.
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