First Man Cave?

Traces of a dream upon awakening....along a river bank in a small town. River was eating away the bank. A nearby barn was in danger of collapsing into the swollen stream. I was helping figure out how to save the barn. But I also needed to get 'home' and didn't have a car. Home was five miles away - three and a half if I cut across the fields and woods - but first I had to get across the river.
I awoke thinking about the dream. I knew the small town was Brooks and the river was the Nodaway. The barn....?

The barn was one I haven't been inside of for at least sixty years. It belonged to our landlord and was located near the curve at the south end of John Street in Corning. It was near the Nodaway River and did get flooded, though never washed away. It is shown to the left in the above picture which I scanned from the 1957 Corning Centurama Booklet.

Hade owned the 320 acre farm where I grew up. My memories of him are tinged with unease. In learning to navigate my world, I came to understand that man with the stinky cigar somehow controlled where we lived. But the times we were with Dad when he went to see Hade at his barn, he was always nice to us, smiling and giving us a piece of gum or candy.

Hade operated what was probably called a gentleman's farm on the edge of town. He kept a number of horses there. Some for riding and some for harness racing. There was an arena north of the barn, used for saddle club events.

My memory of the barn interior was a tack room on the right and Hade's office on the left when you entered. Down the aisle on each side were stalls for six or eight horses. Betty and I liked to walk through and admire them all. Usually picking the ones that we liked the best while Dad and our landlord conducted their business.

The top floor of the barn was reached by stairs rather than a ladder like we had to climb to our hay mow. But instead of hay up there, Hade had a pool table. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back, I know that was his version of what is now referred to as a man cave. (Note to self: Check my memories against older brother's and ask Ron the name of the old guy who worked for Hade in the barn.)

This is the only picture I could find of Hade, also from the Centurama book. He and his father, Otto, operated a harness shop in Corning. When horses gave way to automobiles and tractors, Hade sold the business to Vern Ashenfelter. It was where we went to have our shoes resoled. I loved the smell of leather when we went in.

I have no idea why I dreamed about Hade's barn, but remembering it and him has been a pleasant journey down memory lane this cold and rainy morning.

May 26 Addendum - Ron confirmed my memories of 'office on the left, tack room on right', as well as supplying the name of Hade's helper, Ben Asquith. He also mentioned Hade's black and white horses, Sam and Satan. But he had forgotten about the pool table upstairs. It wasn't for Hade's buddies as I had thought, it was for the young men in town - a place for them to go instead of getting into trouble.

Photo of Hade's barn as it looks today. Would love to go inside it again.