It is difficult to discuss the Anderson Barn without first speaking about the Anderson Dock and Warehouse, and about the Anderson family in general.

Aslag Anderson was born in Arndaul, Norway in 1829.  He arrived in Milwaukee in 1849.  Aslag worked in Escanaba and Cedar Rapids, Michigan as a millwright.  In 1856, he and his friend, Peter Peterson, visited Ephraim and the Rev. Andreas Iverson.  Aslag has heard about about this fruitful town of Ephraim from his friend Cornelius Goodletson.

Aslag and Peter bought 150 acres of shorefront property from the Moravian congregation for $200 with the understanding that they would build a large, serviceable pier from which lake vessels could take on cargoes.

Work began on the pier in 1858 and was of great importance to the village because the transportation lines between it and other areas of the state were poorly developed at the time.  The first warehouse was also built at this time. 

The pier enabled the settlers to supplement their meager incomes by shipping thousands of telegraph poles and fence posts to Illinois.  In time it became a port of call for many Lake Michigan shipping lines, bringing cargo and passengers alike.  It was the port for the Goodrich Transit Company, the largest of the Lake Michigan steamship companies.  However, the bankruptcy of the Goodrich Transit Company in 1934 dealt a major blow to the dock as a transportation center.  Roads became more developed and merchandise for the village began arriving by truck, and tourists arrived by bus or auto.

The original warehouse was destroyed by a storm and the second warehouse was destroyed by a fire in 1880, but was quickly rebuilt.  It is unlikely that anything remains of the original pier.  What was not burned down was tore out by ice, and what was left had to be greatly enlarged to handle the larger vessels.  The present dock with its pier and warehouse is the third on the present site.

After the dock was completed, Aslag built the Anderson Store and then a nearby house for his growing family (there were 12 children who lived).  The house was built in 1864, and thereafter he built a small barn, and then a larger, more substantial one.  The present barn was probably built around 1880.  Here the Anderson family kept cows, horses, and chickens.  It was very much a part of the family's large enterprise.

After Aslag died, his son Frank assumed responsibility for the barn and farm.  Frank loved animals and it was said that the animals loved him.  He enjoyed telling people that "My parents took me the barn in a baby carriage...and I never left."  In the mid to late 1920s, this barn was Charley's Riding Stables.  The horse stalls were in the lower gallery area, and one can still see portions of the stall structure where the horses gnawed at the wood.