The Gatch Barn, built ca. 1812 near Milford, is one of the oldest barns still standing from Clermont County. It gets its name from the land where it originally stood. The first owner of the property was Phillip Gatch, a Methodist minister and judge in the early years of Clermont County. The barn itself is typical of the period in which it was built.

Mortise and Tenon joints, connected with wooden pegs, hold the structure together. The construction of Gatch Barn suggests its use as an implement and some crop storage as well as being used for workspace. Of special note would be the cross beams directly above that span the width of the barn.

They are made of a single piece of hewn lumber. This shows you the size of the old-growth trees that were here when Southwest Ohio was first settled.

Guests may walk in and see farm equipment from the 19th century on display. Wagons, plows, harrows, fanning mills, hay wagons, mowers, a real manure spreader, and even smaller tools are on display. All the farm equipment has been cleaned and treated and arranged for easy access. Some of the prevalent farming artifacts in the Barn have to do with corn cultivation, one of Ohio’s largest crops. A farmer had to prepare the soil using a plow or a harrow, plant the seeds using a planter, cultivate the crop with a cultivator, and harvest using the wagon, seed corn dryers, and corn crib. The corn ears must also be shelled using the corn sheller. Corn by-products like the stalks (chopped with a fodder chopper), cobs, and husks might also be used by farmers for animal bedding. The barn and corn crib were donated by Harry L. Lockwood and Carol L. Hardin in December 1971 and relocated to Heritage Village in 1976.