Late on Tuesday, June 15 the barn known as the Norman Cox Barn in Mendon burnt to the ground; the barn was a landmark in Mendon.
“We received multiple calls just before 8 p.m. reporting the fire,” said Mendon Assistant Fire Chief Mike Zarella. “The barn was completely engulfed and had to be burning for a while for it to burn all the way through the roof becoming noticeable through the trees,” he said. Crews from Bellingham, Uxbridge, and Hopedale assisted.
Zarella said the fire is being investigated by Mendon Detectives and the State Fire Marshall. “There was no electricity to the barn and it was not in use, therefore it’s safe to deem it suspicious,” he said.
According to Zarella the barn was rebuilt in 1960 by Norman Cox after the original barn was destroyed by fire. Historical documents indicate the original barn was built-in the 1830’s.
On June 24 Mendon was slated to vote at their Special Town Meeting to accept the land and use the barn, silo, and adjacent shed for community and other municipal purposes under article 21. The land is owned by Alfonso.
Zarella said there had been talks about turning the building into an education/historical site. Zarella said Gary Smith of Mendon was spearheading the renovation project and the barn was to be named in honor of his late mother.
The photos below were submitted by Zarella.
UPTON DAILY 
Norman was a very good friend at Mendon Center School [now HPC] 1947-53. I managed to talk to him fleetingly five yrs ago. I infer that Norman’s gone. He was obviously was quite a guy. I should’ve tracked him down long before 2010. At the time of the attached clipping, I was in England as a USAF corpsman. I had forgotten that Mrs. Cox was an artist. She often played guitar for us.