Silo history heart of quest

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Marianne May poses at one of Frank May’s silos near Johnsburg, Illinois. The silo is particularly special to her; her grandfather constructed it as an adult on the homestead he grew up on. Across the street, a matching silo stands beside her grandmother’s childhood home. Her grandparents were neighbors as kids.

Jess Savage/ Northern Public Radio

A Frank May silo is tucked away behind trees in southern Wisconsin. When Tom Schurman bought the farm a few years ago, he said the silo was practically invisible through the overgrown trees. It took a lot of work to clear the area. Now his kids play basketball on the foundation of what was once a barn.

Jess Savage/ Northern Public Radio

A signature – a decorative topper Frank May added to his silos – is displayed on Tom Shurman’s porch in southern Wisconsin. Marianne May discovered the fallen signature from a silo on Schurman’s property when she visited to look at the silo. Signatures are the weakest point on the structure; they often don’t survive as long as the silo itself. When she explained how special the signature was, the Shurman family displayed it in a place of honor on their front porch.

Jess Savage/ Northern Public Radio

A Frank May silo stands beside Deno Buralli Jr.’s barn. When Buralli bought the farm, he said there was silage in the silo – enough to feed his cattle through that first winter.

Jess Savage/Northern Public Radio

A Frank May silo stands beside a dilapidated barn near Johnsburg, Illinois.

Jess Savage/Northern Public Radio

Dennis Storlie and Marianne May take a look April 25 at the inside of a silo in McHenry County, Illinois.

Jess Savage/ Northern Public Radio

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Jess Savage Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk

RICHMOND, Ill. – Silos have dotted the Midwestern landscape for 150 years. But they’re threatened by development and old age. One “silo hunter” in northern Illinois has been tracking down silos her grandfather built – before they disappear.

Jess Savage is with Northern Public Radio. This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.