In March of 1916, Gem State Lumber Co. of Blackfoot placed an ad in the Blackfoot Optimist newspaper, offering plans for a round barn. The ad stated, “A curiosity perhaps, but there will be more of these round barns in Idaho within the next few years.” Around Blackfoot, there was only one.

It was built by Marcus Mester for Theodore Isaacson at his ranch on West Lavaside Road, from Douglas fir and yellow pine, brought in from the West Coast. It stood 50 feet high with a 65-foot diameter. There was a copula with a weathervane. The loft could hold 100 tons of hay. Down the center of the ground floor was a driveway, from front to back, large enough for grain trucks to enter and unload. This driveway was flanked by two large semicircular grain bins, with mangers around the outside. Surrounding the mangers were 20 stalls, large enough for draft horses. Then, between the stalls and the outer walls of the barn, was a ring of packed dirt, wide enough to exercise and train horses during the winter. Mr. Isaacson didn’t have 20 horses at the time, but he insisted they be built since they were in the plans.

Above all this, but under the hay loft, was the genius of the barn’s design. A system of metal tracks crisscrossed the entire setup, with a suspended bucket. Using sets of switches in the tracks, the operator could scoop grain, take it to any manger, and dump it, with minimal physical labor. With the same steel-reinforced wooden bucket, he could remove waste from any stall and move it to a waiting wagon for disposal.

The barn was stunning in its design and size, becoming a landmark from the beginning. It was admired by all who traveled the road from Rose to Firth. Many took that road specifically to see the barn and to show it to their children. Artists and photographers often stopped at the house, asking permission to photograph or paint the structure. Some of those pictures are still floating around in this community.

The barn burned in the 1990s.

Ted Isaacson was not a stranger to publicity over his obsession with having a fine-looking property. He had already been written about in the newspaper for removing an old farmhouse from his land and replacing it with a “very beautiful bungalow” of “exceedingly good quality” and had been praised for “doing things right.” Later, Ted hired Stark Brothers Nursery company of Louisiana, Missouri, to professionally landscape his front yard, and had paid a whopping $60 or $70 for the flowers and shrubs needed. Again, in the newspaper, “Mr. Isaacson is setting a worthy example in every feature of his undertakings and is to be commended for the good work.”

Theodore H. Isaacson was born in Valley, Nebraska, on Dec. 4, 1875. He arrived in Blackfoot in 1905 with his brother, John, who also took up land in Lavaside. Ted never married or had children. All his energy went into his property, and he made a good living from his farming operation. His sister, Ethel, eventually moved in with Ted to care for him and for the house. Ted died on his 79th birthday in the house that he loved.

I am one of those people whose family took the Lavaside Road, any chance we got. It is a lovely, scenic drive through an interesting part of Bingham County. Deer and an occasional coyote can be spotted from the road. Parts of the road border on the Snake River. But when we reached the place where the barn stood, I would watch it as we approached, passed it and took the next bend to the east, trying to see that barn from all sides. Sources say it was painted red. I remember only the grey-brown color of old wood and the serene beauty of that roofline. I would crane my neck, looking backward, until we were way down the road, trying to remember every detail.