Where worries waltz away

On a small farm near Arthur, Herb and Eileen Johnson’s barn burnt down in the early 1950s. Undefeated, they hauled in another barn that caught the eye of a few locals. As more people began to admire the barn, the idea of holding a dance became a serious inquiry. After a bit of pondering, the couple decided to hold their first dance, with proceeds made to the Arthur Fire Department.

Today, more than seven decades later, Johnson’s Barn, currently known as Arthur’s Barn, still draws crowds for rural shindigs.

According to a detailed account from American author Josh Kun in the New York Times, Johnson’s Barn began receiving increased recognition in the 1950s. Swing orchestras took to the stage with their upbeat rhythms, while young and old crowds alike danced and swayed across the old, wooden dance floor.

As the ‘60s rolled in, many Midwestern rock bands put Johnson’s Barn on their maps, which led American singer-songwriter Roy Orbison to stop by a dance while on his way to a gig in Winnipeg, Manitoba, according to Kun, who also has family connections to the barn.

Eventually, the Johnsons’ son, Brian, and his wife, Becky, took over the barn dances with help from their children. Many nights were spent readying the barn for populated crowds and cleaning up before “hitting the hay.”

In 2012, the family spent a few years looking for people to take over the farm and continue the barndance tradition. Three years later, the Johnsons sold the barn to a couple who seemed like the right fit.

The Cahoons and Arthur’s Barn
After raising 10 children and edging toward retirement age, DeLon and Julie Cahoon checked out the property. The couple, impressed after attending a few dances, agreed the bands should play. They bought the farm in 2015 and renamed it Arthur’s Barn.

But in October 2017, their excitement turned to dread when big oil spots appeared on the ceiling. The spots, coupled with some loose wires on a windy day, ignited a fire. Once again, the farm’s barn burnt to the ground, along with valuable belongings the couple kept within it.

“We lost everything. But then we started thinking, ‘This happened on a Thursday, and if it had been nearly 24 hours later, the barn would’ve been full of people,’” Julie said. “And so, you realize you don’t really care about that material crap anymore. You think about other people getting hurt.”

Feeling a need to keep their word and continue the tradition for the community, two years later, they built another barn. In the new barn, DeLon and Julie built the dance floor on the ground with a loft to overlook the party and added a few more doors for fire safety.

After completing the new barn in 2019 and beginning the dances again, COVID-19 hit in the spring of 2020. Undeterred, the Cahoons kept the music playing across the prairie, providing guests with masks and hand sanitizer to keep enjoying the Friday night dances.

Since the rebuilding, the barn now hosts a few summer weddings.

“You can come on Saturday morning to set up your stuff if there is a dance Friday night, but we let them stay all through the night until Sunday afternoon. We don’t care,” DeLon said. “They can bring in their own food or grill out.”

To add to the barn’s attraction, DeLon started a hayride for summer weddings and fall events.

Bands like Silverado, Slamabama, and other country or midwestern rock bands jam out every other Friday night from August to May.

Aside from hosting dances in Arthur’s Barn, DeLon supervises a steel crew at Olaf Anderson Construction, a general contracting firm, while Julie works on car stereo systems and manages her business, Julie’s Radio Ranch, in Fargo. Together, they are hobby farmers with 15 cows and three horses.