Abandoned St. Johns Horse Auction Barn: What’s the Reason it Closed?

Anyone traveling north on 127 past St. Johns are treated to a number of oddities along the road; one of them is on the west side of 127, about halfway between St, Johns and Pompeii: The St. Johns Horse Auction barn.

The barn has been closed now for many, many years and even though it has the city name "St. Johns" in the title, it had a Pompeii phone number and an Ashley address. It also happened to be the largest horse auction business within seven states.

People would travel here from almost all over the Midwest: Ohio. Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa.....even New York and Canada to mention a few. The auction barn was frequented by approximately 125 permanent buyers and licensed dealers.

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The spectators were treated to an auctioneer who stood behind a podium, egging on the frantic bidders who could bid on up to 375 horses at just one sale.

A horse could cost as much as $3,000 and has been known to be as low as $3.

Camps, ranches, racetracks, riding academies, hunt clubs, rodeos, and farms all came to this out-of-the-way barn to purchase horses. Unfortunately, some horses were also sold for meat – how many of you are old enough to remember that? Did you or a family member ever resort to eating horsemeat back then?

So why did the horse auction barn close down? I’m still waiting for some info on when and why it permanently shut down. By the way, if you get the urge to explore, there are 'No Trespassing' signs, so keep that in mind.