Postville
courthouse hosts reception for maker of new display case
Send a link to a friend
[April 14, 2024]
On Saturday, April 13th, Postville Courthouse
in Lincoln hosted a reception honoring Mike Nicodemus of Barnwood
Creations in Mason City. Nicodemus has built and donated a display
cabinet to the courthouse, made from barn wood he estimates is from
the 1800s.
|
Nicodemus
said that on family farms the old, old barns are becoming less and
less desirable. The result is that in many cases, they barns are
torn down, or they are allowed to sit and decay until the eventually
fall down. With the lack of desire to keep the barns, he is
approaching the idea of preserving them through re-purposing of the
wood. Thus the name Barnwood Creations. He said all the wood he is
using to create items such as the cabinet at Postville are from
those old barns.
He said that the reason he estimated the wood for the cabinet came
from a barn built in the 1800s is because of the lack of nails in
the construction. He said that this particular barn was constructed
with wood peg and by a jointing method called "mortise and tenon."
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1180_small.JPG)
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1193_small.JPG)
Nicodemus mimicked this type of construction in the
cabinet. He said that he did not use power tools to create the
cabinet. Thus the hole in the piece of four-inch-by-four-inch table
leg was carved out by hand using a wood chisel. He created the hole,
then slid the cross bar inside and secured it using wooden pegs.
Nicodemus said he did “cheat” just a bit on the cabinet because he
did use nails. He said he wanted the piece to be nice and secure for
the courthouse.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/15/images/ads/current/SIU_sda_040124.png)
Asked how he came to donate the cabinet to the
courthouse, he said that he works in Mt. Pulaski at Inland Tool
where Postville site manager Denise Martinek’s husband Vic works.
Nicodemus had talked about his new venture with barn wood, and Vic
suggested that his style of craftsmanship would fit in at the
courthouse. Martinek asked Nicodemus if he would consider building a
display case for the courthouse.
Nicodemus said that he was interested in giving it a try, and
additionally decided that he would build it and donate it to the
courthouse.
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1183_small.JPG)
On Saturday, Denise Martinek said that she was very
well pleased with the case, and felt it fit in quite well with era
of the courthouse.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Jul/22/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_072017.png)
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1184_small.JPG)
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1185_small.JPG)
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1186_small.JPG)
She has filled it with items that document the well
across the street in front of the Kronin Brother’s VFW. That well
was in place in the 1800s and it is known that when Abraham Lincoln
was serving at a circuit attorney, he drank water from the well
while attending court proceedings at Postville.
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1189_small.JPG)
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1194_small.JPG)
![](../images/041524PIX/DSCN1191_small.JPG)
On Saturday, the afternoon included refreshments for
guests, and the opportunity to hear from Nicodemus about the
construction of the cabinet and Martinek about the well across the
road.
[Nila Smith]
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/15/images/ads/current/ldn_smallsda_BUSINESSMAG_2023.png) |