Suburban Skyview: Corn crib sits prominently on Elburn-area farm

Built by the DeKalb seed company, an oval-shaped, century-old concrete corn crib is a prominent structure on a farm southeast of Elburn that is being protected from development.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of these structures had been built throughout Illinois, many constructed near Route 38. DeKalb, where the seed company was founded in 1912, is just 17 miles west of Elburn and the highway connects the towns.

Slotted at the sides for ventilation, a corn crib is used to dry ears of corn, which is then used as animal feed. They have become less common as other methods of preparing feed corn have been developed.

Marc and Luis Bernard of Rustic Road Farm in Elburn, located north of the farm along Hughes Road, are using assistance from The Conservation Fund to purchase the property. The Conservation Fund is helping farmers acquire property in order to keep it as farmland.

I was recently assigned to photograph the farm on Hughes Road, but while on the way there I was unsure if I received the correct address. My strategy was to at least get in the vicinity and figure it out from there.

I knew I was in the right place when spotted an oddly-shaped white “barn,” which I soon realized was a corn crib when I spotted the slotted sides. One of the last photos I took for the assignment was a low-altitude aerial of the crib.

It was nice to get out into farm country and away from the densely packed suburbs, and it is hoped that development stays clear of this area for the foreseeable future.