The barn on the verge of collapse at the historic McConnell Farmstead on Broadway Street in Richmond is the threshing barn. Threshing barns were designed for separating grain from the chaff and stalk until machines took over this task. 

William A. McConnell and his family built this threshing barn sometime after 1838. As his family expanded and moved, the threshing barn went with them—they carefully dismantled and rebuilt it twice.

“The threshing barn was constructed shortly after 1838 on the initial McConnell claim of 480 acres overlooking the Nippersink Creek. In 1852, the McConnell family moved south across Broadway Street . . . They took the threshing barn to the new farm and reconstructed it. In 1872, McConnell and his wife would move once again north across the street . . . they again took the threshing barn with them to be sited near its original location, where it stands today.”

    (Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress)

Today we learned that this historic threshing barn has been placed on McHenry County Conservation District's demolition list. 

This loss is about more than one old barn. The threshing barn is part of the McConnell Farmstead, a nationally documented historic site that was also named to Landmarks Illinois "2025 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois" list. That designation reflects the site's exceptional historical significance and the urgent need for preservation.

Historic preservation professionals use the term "benign neglect" to describe what happens when historic buildings are allowed to quietly deteriorate over time--until demolition appears to be the only practical option.

The question now is not just about one old barn. It is whether meaningful action will be taken to preserve the remaining historic buildings before they, too, quietly detioriorate to the point that demolition becomes the only practical option.

Once history is gone, it’s gone forever.

 https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/il0997/

https://www.loc.gov/.../item/il0997.sheet.00001a/resource/

 https://tile.loc.gov/.../il0900/il0997/data/il0997data.pdf