Twin Bridges Barn

Ren and Scott of @xcountytravelers told me recently that they've seen many barns in Oklahoma and Arkansas that were built with an exterior facade of stones rather than wood. Zooming-in on her original photo, it appears that the stones range in size from that of a softball to a basketball, all held together by mortar.

I can only guess that the reason is durability, especially since that part of the United States is particularly prone to tornadoes. In fact, the entire south-central US is known as "Tornado Alley" because of severe thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes at certain times-of-year. No building is completely immune to damage by these terrible storms, but a structure such as this would certainly be more resistant than a wooden structure would be.

This particular barn is located in Mayes County, Oklahoma, at Twin Bridges State Park near the border with the US state of Missouri.

Twin Bridges State Park is a park on the north side of the Grand Lake o' the Cherokees in northeastern Oklahoma. It was named for the two bridges that carry U.S. Highway 60 over arms of the lake that connect to the Neosho River and the Spring River.  [source]

The area is touted on several websites (such as StateParks.com) as being a good spot for catching trophy-sized bass, catfish, and other game fishes. The enormous lake in the area is also perfect for water-skiing and other sport activities. A short 35 miles (56 km) away is the historic town of Joplin, Missouri, for history buffs that might appreciate seeing one of the towns made famous by outlaw couple Bonnie & Clyde in the early 1930s.

Thanks to @xcountytravelers for sharing this lovely stone barn with us! Half the rewards of this post will go to you!