Charles Schilling didn’t see the construction of his first Morton building way back in 1952. That’s because right before the Quonset style building was set to go up, Schilling was called overseas to fight in the Korean War.
When he returned home to Dahlgren, IL, the building was finished and he’s been using it for the last 61 years.
While the finished product doesn’t have the Morton Buildings hex at the peak of the building like you see today, there are columns stamped with “Morton” on the inside of the building.
To give you an idea of how much farm equipment has evolved over the years, the 40x40 building replaced a smaller structure to accommodate the ever-increasing size of planters, plows and wagons.
“My dad thought the building that was here before was a little too small, so we tore it down and put that Morton building up,” Schilling recalls.
That building worked just fine for about 25 years, but in 1977 Schilling again needed another building. So he had Morton construct a farm garage next to his Quonset building.
“When you have self-propelled equipment and bigger combines, you have to have bigger doors and just about everything like that,” Schilling said. “As equipment got bigger, you have to have a bigger storage area.”
Farm buildings and farm equipment have come a long way since those days. Today, Morton offers its hybrid building line, which has spans up to 150’ wide.
“Tremendous buildings,” Schilling chuckled. “Too big for me.”
