Photo by Janelle Patterson Rick Shriver, 62, of McConnelsville, stands in front of a historic farm tools display as he explains where he plans to put the bar in his barn at Willis Hill Farm in McConnelsville.

McCONNELSVILLE, Ohio — The creation of spirits dates back to the foundation of the Willis Hill Farm in 1873 by William “Bill” Willis, who pieced together parcels of land just south of town and grew his own fruit trees and vines.

Willis raised livestock and a wide variety of crops but he also was a licensed distiller, and produced several varieties of spirits and wines. His recipes have been handed down through the generations, just as his farm and equipment have been.

Now, 144 years later, his great-great grandson Rick Shriver, 62, is reviving the family’s 126-year-old livestock barn to become a gathering place for wine, Amish wares and music.

“I’ve been making wine for years but here in southeast Ohio, unless you know the Amish family that makes the rugs or the furniture personally, you have to travel up north to get their quality products,” said Shriver. “So I want this barn to host their wares in consignment along with having my kitchen in here to make and sell my wine.”

The original barn built in 1873 burned down in 1890 and was rebuilt that year. That barn still stands today on the family property. It is built from timbers harvested on the family farm, using “mortise and tenon” construction, with handmade wooden pins.

Shriver has put a new foundation under the barn, replaced the siding with locally harvested rough sawn oak, and re-wired the building to commercial standards.

On the walls inside the barn Shriver has displayed many of the original tools used and passed down the maternal line of his family for generations, including original steelworks and correspondence from Abram Zimmerman, the founder of the New Holland Machine Company in Pennsylvania.

“It’s important to me to keep that history alive so that when people come here they will see how these posts were built without nails and how farming techniques have changed in 200 years,” he said.

Shriver plans to add a handicapped-accessible bathroom, a bar in front of a windowed kitchen, retail space and storage for his bottles in the basement.

“I had to raise the barn and redo the entire foundation, but now that becomes the perfect secure place to store the wine,” he explained. “I’ve started a Kickstarter fund to see if I can get help replacing the floor now so that I can hopefully be open for business before the end of summer.”

Rather than take out a loan from a bank, Shriver hopes the community helps invest in his business so that he can open his doors debt-free.

“Small businesses often fail because of their over-arching debt, and we know the historically poverty-stricken nature of Morgan County and the unemployment rate is very high,” he said. “So I’m hoping to add a few jobs, keep costs low and then there’s tremendous potential for this to push us into the tourism sector.”

From wine and wares, Shriver hopes his farm would be the catalyst for the area becoming a destination like Hocking Hills.

“My vision for this place is to be one to shop, sit and have a tasting, slip onto the back deck for a cigar and then maybe eventually expand to have horseback riding and even a zip line,” said Shriver.

The farm’s closest neighbor, Randy Bragg, 70, said he is excited to see the traffic the farm brings to McConnelsville.

“I think it’s a magnificent idea,” he said. “I know they sell some Amish furniture in town but it’s not very available around here. This will bring people here instead of sending them up by Cleveland.”

Shriver has been making fruit wines with the family vines for more than 35 years and is adamant about not using pesticides and keeping his farm and barn environmentally friendly.

“It’s a passion of mine that everything be as sustainable as possible,” he said. “My great-grandfather grew up on the farm when they did everything themselves and would only have to go into town for pepper and coffee.”