On Mr. Ira’s cotton farm, most work was still done by mule and human muscle-power despite his interest in the latest farming developments. In the 1940s, 26 mules tilled the fields and pulled wagons and other farm equipment. The farm then had two main mule barns and a small two-stall barn in the fenced barnyard, though the mules were likely kept outdoors in the yard most of the time. Of the two large barns, one survives: a six-stall barn in the center of the yard, built mostly of concrete block on a poured concrete foundation whose large stone aggregate gives it a distinctive handmade appearance. Three doors on each side and sliding doors at each end make it open and well ventilated, and a wooden loft above the central bay held hay that could be forked down into the manger above the feeding troughs. Around the barnyard stand smaller buildings including the two-stall barn, a feed house, and two corncribs. The barn and feed house are plain wooden frame structures, while the cribs contrast with them: one is built of concrete blocks, some ornamental, with “Ethridge 1916” inscribed above the door, and the other is a much older log structure with half-dovetail joints, raised on stone piers beside a small hog pen where hogs could crawl underneath and help prevent rats from infesting the space.