The Bimson Barn History

Ten years after his arrival in Berthoud, blacksmith Alfred Bimson purchased 25 acres at the south edge of Berthoud. Bimson’s kept lots on which to build a home and platted a subdivision that later became the Bimson Addition to the Town of Berthoud.

In June 1902 Bimson hired local carpenters to build a small, frame, two-story barn on the lots he selected for his new home. The family lived in the barn until their two-story Victorian home at the present-day address of 405 Bimson Avenue was finished.

After Bimson moved his family out of the barn, the east end of first floor was outfitted with wooden stalls and feed bunk for the horse that pulled Bimson’s buggy. The west half of the barn’s ground floor was used to store Bimson’s buggy. This end of the barn featured a large sliding door.

The barn’s second floor was used as a pigeon rookery by Bimson’s sons, Walter and Carl. The boys cut small holes in the wall under the roof line and drove large nails beneath the holes for pigeon roosts.

Bimson later built a one-story, lean-to addition on the west end of the barn.

In the spring of 2001 the owner of the Bimson property, Fred Peterson, donated the barn to the Berthoud Historical Society. On Sunday, September 30, 2001, Mark Powell of Powell Structure Moving elevated the barn with jacks and towed it across town to the Pioneer Courtyard of the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum.

The sandstone blocks that originally supported the barn were used to construct a foundation for the barn at its new location. After the barn was lowered onto the foundation, a new floor and new sliding door were built. The old roof was removed and re-roofed with new, wooden shingles.

In 2006 a handicapped-accessible ramp was constructed on the west side of the barn by Eagle Scout candidate Nick Ludwig. Later the ramp was relocated to the south end of the barn by museum volunteers.

In 2014 local Berthoud craftsman John Goreski was hired to build a small stage of redwood lumber in front of the barn’s sliding door.

The purpose of the stage was to create a rustic venue for museum events.

Prior to the installation of landscaping material, the stage neared completion.

In July 2015 the stage built in front of the barn’s sliding door became the venue for a free public concert by Butch Hause and his band Reckless Abandon.

The inaugural concert was a success. Beginning in 2016 the barn and stage became the centerpiece of an annual summer Concerts in the Pioneer Courtyard series.

The interior of the Bimson Barn is currently used for museum storage but is slated to eventually become an exhibit interpreting agriculture and industry in the Berthoud area.