news-record.com

It was a shocking, horrid summer evening for Harriet Mattes and her family when lightning sparked a fire in the big dairy barn on her family’s historic Lindale Farm.

Firefighters worked frantically to keep the roaring fire from spreading to other farm buildings and the house nearby.

“I wasn’t even here — I came home unaware, just after the last fire truck left, and walked into the backyard to the sight of a big hole in the sky and the stink of wet, burned building,” Mattes said. “I’m glad I didn’t actually see the fire: I don’t have nightmares about it or get nervous during thunderstorms.”

On that June 29, 2008, the centerpiece of her grandfather R.O. Lindsay’s farm was destroyed.

The family was determined to rebuild.

And because the late Roland Odell Lindsay had insisted on the best craftsmanship and materials for his buildings — even in the Depression years — the barn has been resurrected in less than a year.

“The first floor survived the fire in good shape,” said Mattes, who lives on the 130-acre farm. And High Point firefighters managed to protect the adjoining one-story wing from any damage.

Mattes and her family have gone from shock to a celebration mood, and held an “open barn to celebrate what has risen from the ashes to be even better than before.” Tours of the barn for invited guests were held May 1.

Her guests were invited to “have a cookie and a cup of punch and take a tour through what State Farm’s restoration contractors have accomplished,” Mattes said.

“Who was invited? About everybody I could think of who loves our barn,” she said. “It wasn’t for politicians or government officials or anything like that.”

Yet, there were some people in the crowd who worked at the family’s Lindale Dairy and its dairy bar (now Mayberry’s) as high school students. “There were a lot of good young people who worked there,” Mattes said.

Among those invited to tour the barn were members of the many families that lived and worked on the farm during the past 90 years.

And many sipping the punch were simply some of the neighbors the family has gotten to know down through the years. And, of course, the firefighters, who made the celebration possible, were invited.
Four generations of Mattes’ family have cared for the farm.

Roland Odell Lindsay is believed to have settled in High Point about 1900, moving here from Wallburg to eventually become a hosiery executive at Adams-Millis.

He married the former Ida Gordon, and lived in what is now the Johnson Street Historic District.

The farm was a secondary investment that Lindsay made along with John Hampton Adams, half of the famed Adams-Millis Hosiery.

Lindsay wanted a place to raise dairy cows, and Adams built a barn to house his horses on the original 200-acre spread.

John W. Austin Jr. married the Lindsays’ daughter Frances in 1938, and in 1940 the couple moved in as managers and eventual owners of the farm, although Austin spent his working career at Myrtle Desk.
The Austins raised their children, Harriet, Karen and John, on the farm.

Harriet Mattes said her son, Wes Mattes, and his wife are moving from Montana to the farm to live for a while. “I don’t believe he will want to settle here permanently, though,” she said.

The farm, which is within the High Point boundaries, is protected by the Piedmont Land Conservancy. That conservation easement was donated by Mattes’ mother.

Frances Austin didn’t want the farm to become a housing subdivision, shopping center or other commercial place, and her children agreed that it should continue to provide wildlife habitat and open green space.

It also assured that the farm could remain in the family after Frances Austin’s death in 2005 because her heirs would not be forced to sell the land to settle estate or property taxes.

Mattes, who moved back home to the farm from Greensboro in 1969, said the fire was an unforgettable experience, one that required five fire companies, 14 fire trucks, 35 firefighters and 16 hours to stop the burning.

The restored barn again has its huge hay loft, which Mattes has divided into several zones to make it more amenable for people use, now that it no longer holds the tons of hay still harvested on the farm.

With the original foundation and cement floor intact, the automatic milking fixtures are still in place. “We don’t have any plans to milk cows here again, but the machines help to demonstrate what happens on a farm and we still do lots of kindergarten and school tours,” Mattes said.

“We only have one cow left; she’s not a milk cow but she keeps our boarding horses company. That’s Nellie and she gets pretty aggravated sometimes. I understand that she gave the firefighters a good scare when she protested the commotion in her barnyard.”

Contact Bob Burchette at bburchette@triad.rr.com.