Ancient building material utilized during World War II
shortages. PrattTribune - Pratt, KS Updated Jan. 29, 2013 @ 9:01
am Updated Jan. 29, 2013 @ 9:01 am » Social News If a farmer
needs a barn, he will probably call a building contractor, who
will bring a crew and all the materials to his site and put the
barn up in short order. This was not always the case — sometimes
the materials had to be produced before they could be assembled.
The Thornton adobe barn, in southeast Pratt County, is a case in
point. It is located one mile east and 1.25 north of Isabel, on
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism property known
as the Isabel Wetlands. It is open to the public — just latch
the doors and leave it as you found it. The barn was built in
1942 from adobe blocks, a material not in popular use since the
pioneer days. But those were extraordinary times. The nation was
coming out of the Great Depression and enmeshed in World War II.
The War Production Board, created by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, issue