Round Barn - Allerton

The round barn in this mural is based on a locally-famous round barn located east of Allerton. This mural is an update of two previous Round Barn murals painted at this site.

Learn more:
the Round Barn

This mural features the Round Barn, which is still standing one mile east of Allerton. It’s the last surviving round barn in Wayne County and one of the most well-preserved round barns in Iowa, recently winning an Iowa Barn Foundation award.

The Round Barn was built by Ed Nelson in 1912. The original owner was George Fennell. The barn is fifty feet in diameter and features a loft with a unique spiderweb construction, which eliminated the need for support columns in the large haymow.

A local nonprofit called the International Center for Rural Culture and Art, formed by Clell Bryan, Bob Finley, and David Wampler, saved the Round Barn from destruction in 1992. The site also includes:

  • A Queen Anne house (1897), which originally sat in Allerton and was moved to the Round Barn site for preservation. This house is featured in the mural.

  • A restored one-room schoolhouse (Williams School, 1869).

  • A church (originally the New York Christian Church, 1887).

You can learn more about the Round Barn at theroundbarn.org. You can also visit the Round Barn one mile directly east of Allerton (map). Tours are by appointment only, but exterior photos are allowed anytime.

In the newest incarnation of the mural, the woman standing with butterflies is an homage to Lorena Blount. Lorena was a long-time resident of Allerton, and her family included some of the earliest white settlers in Wayne County. She had a deep love of education, nature, and public service. She and her husband Ross were part of the group that preserved the Old Time Soda Fountain, which is across the street from Knapp Park.

Knapp Park’s beautiful flower beds are maintained by the Allerton Garden Club. The park was built in the 1980s, replacing three original brick buildings that previously held a bank, a movie theatre, the American Legion Hall, and a dry goods store. It was donated to the City of Allerton by Bill Knapp.

Learn more:
about the art

This mural was painted during the Walldog Mural Festival in Wayne County, Iowa, from August 30 - September 3, 2023.

The lead designers were Bill Hueg and Alicia Rheal:

  • Bill was the original designer of the previous Round Barn mural in 1993 and a longtime Walldog. He updated his original design for the new mural. He is from Minneapolis, MN.

  • Alicia currently lives in Madison, WI, and has been painting since 1986. She’s been a project lead for several other mural festivals, and you can learn more about her at www.rhealimagination.com/.

There were two previous Round Barn-themed murals at this site. One was painted around 1986, and the other was painted at the first Walldog Festival in 1993. Both were painted directly onto the brick wall of the building behind this mural. You can see ghost remnants of those murals on the brick.

All previous murals featured similar elements: a train in honor of Allerton’s prominence as a railroad town; the Round Barn; a Queen Anne or Victorian house; and local residents tending to crops and riding horses.

FAQs

  • The Walldogs are an international group of muralists and sign-painters who volunteer their time to create community art. They have painted throughout the US and around the world.

    The Walldog movement started in Allerton, Iowa, in 1993. Local artist Nancy Bennett invited dozens of signpainters to Allerton to paint murals in Allerton’s downtown, and the local community opened their homes to host these artists. Since that first gathering, the Walldog movement has grown tremendously.

    The Walldogs celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2023 by returning to Wayne County, Iowa. They have meets planned for the next several years to continue this community art tradition. You can learn more at thewalldogs.org.

  • In 2023, the Walldogs painted 16 murals. They also painted new signage at the Wayne County Fairgrounds.

    These murals included 12 new designs, as well as 4 restorations of the original 1993 Walldog murals in Allerton.

  • We recommend starting at Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon, Iowa. The “Come, Come Ye Saints” mural recognizes the passage of the Mormon Trail through Wayne County.

    From there, you can drive in an approximate circle to Promise City, Seymour, Allerton, Clio, Lineville, Humeston, and Millerton, before returning to Corydon to see the rest of the murals there.

    Alternatively, you can start at any mural that works for your route.

    The entire route takes approximately 2 hours to drive.

  • Check our main FAQ page for more details and contact info.

Next stop

Turn north and see the Coca-Cola mural. It is a restoration of previous Coca-Cola murals on this location, which has been a soda fountain for generations.

You can find the Coca-Cola mural at the Old Time Soda Fountain: 100 N Central Ave, Allerton, IA 50008

For the full list of murals and locations, visit this page or download the map.