Ackerhurst Dairy Barn

15220 Military Road
1935
Adolf Otte, builder
Dutch Gambrel Style
Designated Omaha Landmark: March 5, 2002

The Ackerhurst barn is an extraordinary example of a Dutch Gambrel dairy barn. This style of barn was once a ubiquitous resource in Douglas County and is now very rare.

The Ackerhurst barn was built in 1935 by Anthony W. Ackerman for the Ackerhurst dairy, described at the time in a Omaha World-Herald article as "one of the finest dairy barns in the middle west".

A great many steps were taken to insure the purity and quality of the milk produced by the Ackerman dairy herd. For example:

• a veterinarian was on duty at all times
• high quality hay was trucked to the dairy
• all of the milking equipment installed was manufactured of stainless steel, then state of the art

The scale of the Ackerhurst barn is impressive, measuring 193 feet long by 40 feet wide. The second floor of the barn retains a cathedral-like hayloft comprised of wooden trusses.

(This building is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.)