Bureau County Republican

Welcome to the Psycho Silo Saloon

Princeton man transforms former elevator into a bar

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Psycho Silo Saloon has opened in Langley, a former town located just north of the intersection of Route 40 and Route 6/34 in Bureau County. The area is now more closely associated with rural Sheffield.

“The story is as a kid I saw this building and thought it was cool whenever we would drive by,” said Troy Thompson, owner of the bar. “Many years later, my wife, sister-in-law and me were driving by, and I told them about the building. I then decided I wanted to buy the building and make a bar out of it. I found out who owned it and eventually bought it from them.”

Thompson bought the elevator three years ago and has enlisted the help of family and friends in renovating the elevator into a bar for bikers and hot rods.

“It has been a lot of work, but it is cool to see it all come together,” said Thompson. “I have a very understanding wife who has put up with me.”

The Psycho Silo Saloon is only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the months of May through October from 11 a.m. to closing, which can be as late as 2 a.m. or as early as midnight depending on business.

Thompson has collected a wide variety of items throughout the years that he has used to decorate the saloon’s walls.

“It was creepy at night out here when I was working on it, “ he said in reference to the unique name of the bar. “The wind is always blowing out here. It is 10 degrees cooler out here than in town. We also had turkey buzzards on the roof, which left after we put a new metal roof on it saying ‘Beer.’”

Thompson was born and raised in Princeton. He also runs a graphic design business in Princeton and had been a tattoo artist for eight years before giving up that profession when he decided to open the Psycho Silo Saloon.

Langley used to have a few houses, a train depot, the elevator and even perhaps a general store, according to historical research Thompson has conducted since buying the land where the town used to be.

Thompson said in 1904 some people hid in train cars in Langley after robbing a bank in Manlius. A posse was put together and found them here where a shootout then happened.

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