Category Archives: Barn Preservation

Barn Again! in Indiana – September 19, 2014

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This guest post by Raina Regan, a preservationist working hard to bring attention to barn preservation at Indiana Landmarks, the statewide “nonprofit organization, fighting to defend architecturally unique, historically significant, and communally cherished properties…” in Indiana.  NBA is thrilled to see the dedication of those barn-loving Hoosiers!  This Barn Again! workshop is not a new thing for Indiana Landmarks and they sure know how to do it right – don’t miss out on this great event.

Although located directly east of metropolitan Indianapolis, Hancock County, Indiana is rich in agricultural heritage. Driving county roads, you’ll find timber frame barns and steel silos dotting the slightly rolling landscape.  This fall, don’t miss Indiana Landmarks’ BARN AGAIN! workshop in Hancock County to explore this historic community while learning about barn preservation.

HABS_LittletonRoundBarnThis day long workshop on September 19 will provide practical solutions from experts on how to maintain, rehabilitate, and adapt old barns for today’s needs. Participants will learn about the history and technology of barns as well as barn maintenance, adaptive reuse, and preservation. Rick Collins of Trillium Dell Timberworks will headline our workshop speakers. The workshop will also highlight a new Indiana law which offers a 100 percent property tax deduction for heritage barns not used for farming or business purposes.

The afternoon will include a tour of four barns in northern Hancock County, providing an opportunity to learn about the design, history, and rehabilitation of historic barns. The tour includes a stop at the award-winning, National Register-listed Frank Littleton Round Barn. The Littleton Round Barn dates from 1903 and is an impressive true circular barn with a 102’ diameter. The barn was commissioned by Indianapolis attorney Frank Littleton, who called upon Benton Steele for the design. Steele had recently built the largest round barn in the state, a 100’ diameter round barn for Littleton’s rival, Congressman Wymond L. Beckett. As the story is told, Littleton had Steele build his barn just a little bit larger, for a total of 102 feet in diameter, so that he could beat out his rival.  Constructed by Issac McNamee and Horace Duncan, the Littleton Round Barn still holds the title for largest round barn in the state of Indiana.  We’re excited to include the property on our barn tour to highlight this impressive structure which continues to function in an agricultural use.

Phares Dairy Barn

Phares Dairy Barn

Other barns on the tour include a depression-era Dairy Barn and an unusual transverse frame basement barn – featuring rusticated concrete blocks cast on site. Our fourth barn is a 19th century timber frame barn, which sits on an early Hancock County farm dating from the 1830s. The tour promises to highlight a wide variety of historic barn types, perfect for anyone passionate about agricultural heritage.

The BARN AGAIN! workshop will be held at NineStar Connect Conference Center, 2243 East Main Street, Greenfield, IN 46140. Cost for the day-long workshop is $45 and includes lectures, lunch, an informational packet, and the barn tour. There is a discounted price for members of Indiana Landmarks. The reservation deadline for the BARN AGAIN! workshop is September 15. Register online at barnagain2014.eventbrite.com or contact Indiana Landmarks at 800-450-4534. Questions? Contact Raina Regan, Community Preservation Specialist, 317-639-4534, rregan@indianalandmarks.org.

New Indiana Barn Foundation Hard at Work!

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Indiana Barn FoundationA passionate and motivated group of Hooisers have been working hard to establish a barn organization for the state of Indiana in recent months – and what great success they have had in such a short period of time.  The first annual meeting of the Indiana Barn Foundation is coming up on July 12th and the group can already boast of supporting barn preservation legislation!  Last month, members of the organization were in Indianapolis to witness Governor Pence sign Bill 1046–a law that allows for a property tax deduction on historic barns in Indiana.  Way to go Hoosiers and congratulations to Indiana’s historic barns!

We know great things are in store for this wonderful new barn preservation organization, and hope you will lend them your support in the effort.  Below is a description of the group’s purpose and goals taken from their website.  Please share this information with anyone you think would be interested and encourage them to attend the meeting on July 12th at the Indiana state fairgrounds! 


“Indiana Barn Foundation is being established to unite those of us who value the legacy of Hoosier farmers who have worked against the odds, often single–handedly and with no financial incentive, to maintain and preserve these landmarks. We see Indiana’s historic barns as being an asset to Indiana’s larger cultural heritage; an asset worth preserving by assisting our farmers who struggle to maintain them. 

Our Proposal:  We are establishing, in conjunction with several other organizations, a private, nonprofit 501c3 mechanism to  provide grants to rehab historic Indiana barns. We expect to operate efficiently under the umbrella of the Indiana Barn Foundation, while enlisting the expertise and resources of the Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Landmarks, the National Barn Alliance and many other groups who will join us in this work.

To keep this work alive for future generations, we also foresee the Indiana Barn Foundation some day financing educational programs, producing workshops and educational materials, and surveying and documenting existing barns.

The effort to save Indiana barns will need the support and dedication of many people, and we invite you get involved in this exciting undertaking! We have the opportunity today to do more than despair at the disappearance of another Hoosier landmark.  Indiana barns have stood as a silent testament to the hard work and resourcefulness of those who settled this grand land of ours. We have a responsibility to care for and preserve our heritage now, and for future generations.”

 It couldn’t be said any better; kudos from the NBA to the Indiana Barn Foundation!

Bucks County Community College Sets Rural Stage for NBA’s 2014 Winter Meeting!

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**Our 2014 Winter Meeting was canceled due to inclement weather, but the NBA is trying to partner with BCCC once again in 2015!  This time around, the meeting will take place on February 21-22, 2015.

This guest post comes from Patricia Fisher-Olsen, Coordinator of the Historic Preservation Program  and lecturer at Bucks County Community College (BCCC) in eastern Pennsylvania.  This year BCCC has agreed to host the NBA’s Winter Meeting at their 200-acre Newtown campus where several of the school’s NRHP-listed buildings have been re-adapted to serve as classrooms – enhancing the learning environment for all its visitors!  From 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, Saturday, February 15th, the NBA’s Winter Meeting is open to the public.  We encourage any barn enthusiasts in the vicinity to join us as we learn more about barns in the region and what all the students at BCCC are doing to save them!  The lecturers are free though small donations to help cover the cost of lunch are welcome.

In 1991, BCCC became the first school in the country to offer a 24-credit Certificate Program in Historic Preservation and since then the campus program has grown and expanded online, offering students the unique opportunity to complete their Historic Preservation Certificate entirely over the Internet. Students opting to take courses on our Newtown campus will find them immersed in a working preservation laboratory. Classes and lectures are taught in buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, surrounded by historic landscapes and formal gardens. Students opting to take courses through our online campus will find themselves immersed in the preservation laboratory of their own communities.  The online courses are designed to leverage the historic resources in all areas of the country.

BCCC Students at Work Documenting Best Barn.

BCCC Students at Work Documenting Best Barn.

In 2008, Bucks students won the coveted National Parks Service/American Institute of Architects’ Charles E. Peterson Prize, which annually recognizes the best set of measured drawings prepared to Historic American Building Survey (HABS) standards by college or university students.  At BCCC, the HABS program operates as part of the institution’s Historic Preservation Department.  The program offers students the opportunity to measure and record the architectural details of historic structures as they exist today, before they are further altered by time, nature and people.  By studying clues, such as the changes in mortar and other materials applied to a structure, HABS students document both a building’s history and the history of the people who made the changes.

Since 1991, Bucks County Community College faculty member, Kathryn Auerbach, has led several teams of HABS students as they measured and documented historic structures here in Bucks County and across the country.  The recorded findings of the students, many of whom have no previous architectural or building experience, have become part of the collection at the Library of Congress to be used for future research.  The college competes for the best architectural measured drawings of a historic American structure in the Charles E. Peterson HABS Prize Competition sponsored by the National Park Service, the American Institute of Architects and the Library of Congress.

Measured Drawing of Best Barn, Frederick, MD.

Measured Drawing of Best Farm Stone Barn, Frederick, MD (BCCC 2008).

The yearly contest is highly competitive, with entries from architecture and design programs at nationally recognized universities. Several of BCCC subsequent HABS classes have gone on to secure a Honorable Mention,  4th place, 3rd place and even 1st place in the competition. In 2008, BCCC – the only community college entrant – won a highly coveted 1st place award for their work with the National Park Service on the Best Farm Stone Barn, located on the Monocacy Battlefield in Frederick, Maryland.

In Bucks County during the 1930’s, many of the HABS projects involved old stone barns that were very prevalent in this part of the country.   Today, thirty percent of the barns that were documented no longer exist.  Without the HABS sets of measured drawings and photographs, no evidence would exist of some of Bucks County’s beautiful stone barns, nor of the people who built and used them.

Students who participate in the HABS class at BCCC not only learn about historic architecture but also develop important problem-solving skills.  Many of our HABS drawings will be on display during the National Barn Alliance Winter Meeting.

Reflecting on 2013: A President’s Letter

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December 23, 2013

NBA President, Danae Peckler, addresses the barn-loving crowd last June at the CT Trust's "Celebration of Barns" (photo credit: Jim Prager).

NBA President, Danae Peckler, addresses the barn-loving crowd last June at the CT Trust’s “Celebration of Barns” (photo: Jim Prager).

Dear Barn Preservation Advocate:

Today I am writing to express my gratitude for your continued support of the National Barn Alliance (NBA) and to update you on the organization’s 2013 activities.  Now in my second term as President of the NBA, I reminded everyday of how much people love America’s barns in the emails we receive, the pictures people share, and in the many comments exchanged through our social media. The character and charm of an old barn simply can’t be beat!

This past year we partnered with the Department of Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington to host our Winter Meeting in Fredericksburg, VA, and heard from students in their Agricultural Preservation class, as well as Preservation graduate students from the University of Delaware’s Center for Historic Architecture and Design, about the work being done at these institutions to document historic barns and study historic patterns of farming in the region. This past summer, NBA collaborated with the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation to join in their “Celebration of Barns” and hold our Annual Meeting in Old Saybrook, CT.  Continuing our presence at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the NBA attended their annual conference in Indianapolis, IN, where we added countless names to our contact list and touched base with old and new friends. Each of these events helped expand our barn-loving network as well as our awareness of the actions leading barn preservation in various parts of the country.

At the Annual Meeting, we welcomed Gina Drew to the Board of Directors (BOD).  Gina has been incredibly active on Restore Oregon’s Heritage Barn Taskforce and has graciously taken on the position of Secretary within the NBA. A special election this month also added Sonja Ingram to the BOD. Sonja comes to us from Preservation Virginia’s Tobacco Barns project and has been instrumental in that organization’s efforts to celebrate tobacco culture and save the barns that reflect it. Both ladies are helping make 2014 look very bright for the NBA!

Another important step taken this year was to revise the NBA’s Action Plan. Taking into account the results of our membership surveys and strategic planning sessions at the 2013 Winter Meeting, the BOD has outlined and refined a plan of action that builds upon many of the goals established in the previous version of 2009.  We hope this revised Action Plan will guide us into another four years of success, as we continue to connect with state and local barn organizations and interested barn preservationists across the country! Also around with us since 2009, the NBA continues to strengthen our Teamwork and Timbers program by sending our two timber-frame barn models into classrooms in the Midwest and Eastern parts of the country. This year we gained a new friend and a New England barn model by partnering with Massachusetts timber-framer, Tom Musco. This is just one example of how we look to further expand the geographical and educational reach of these barns in 2014, as we believe they are incredible assets that leave lasting impacts on students of all ages.

But the time to act to save our barns and rural heritage has never been more evident. More barns disappear from our landscape every day as time and weather take their toll. I urge you to look around www.barnalliance.org and review the information that we are continually improving, and to engage the NBA through social media where increasing numbers reflect our growing influence and the growing interest many have in rural heritage preservation. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and You Tube trying to spread the word about the benefits of barn and rural heritage preservation – please join in the conversation!

The success of our alliance depends on continued action to promote the documentation, preservation, and celebration of these surviving features of our rural heritage! Members in the NBA agree that historic barns occupy an iconic status in our culture and memory.  Benefits of membership include unlimited access to barn preservation resources on our website and social media outlets, monthly e-newsletters, two printed NBA newsletters each year, and an open invitation to join in our sponsored and affiliated events including conferences, barn tours, and our 2014 Annual Membership Meeting to be held next June in upstate New York.

On behalf of the BOD and historic barns everywhere, I thank you for your interest in the NBA and I urge to join us in the effort to preserve our rural heritage in 2014. We just couldn’t do it without the support of our members and barn-loving preservationists like you!

Sincerely,

Danae Peckler, NBA President

The Future of America’s Barns by Charles Leik

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The following post contains excerpts from a 2012 presentation  by Charles Leik, Past President, NBA.  Charles led the NBA for more than five years and was around in the years when the NBA lobbied the USDA to ask farmers about their historic barns in the 2007 Agricultural Census. (NBA also thanks Rod Scott and countless others who worked on behalf of historic barns across the country to get the USDA’s attention!)

Charles Hopf Mail Pouch Barn_Martin Co_smlfile_Gwen Gutwein

Charles Hopf Mail Pouch Barn in Martin County, IN. Painting by Gwen Gutwein

What is a barn?  For me a barn houses cattle and horses or stores grain, hay and straw, or is  dedicated to tobacco or hops drying.  Most of us think of barns as massive gambrel or gable structures to house livestock in winter.  I do not include pole structures as barns when I think of preservation!  I do believe that urban carriage houses that once contained a family’s buggy horse and milk cow and are often highly refined Victorian structures, do qualify as barns.

What is America’s barn population?  There is no authoritative number even if all questionnaire respondents were to use a uniform definition for a barn.  A 2007 USDA census of farmers and ranchers with more than $1,000 of farm income asked if they owned a barn built before 1960 (this would’ve excluded most pole structures).  The results indicated 650,000 barns, however it excluded multiple barns on the same property, barns no longer located on farms, barns owned by non-farming landlords, and did not consider the condition of the barn.  Fifteen percent of the questionnaires were not returned.

Allowing for the shortcomings mentioned above, Texas registered 51,000 barns, Missouri 36,000, Wisconsin 35,000, Kentucky 35,000 and Iowa 34,000.  In terms of density per square mile it was Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  Michigan was 13th in barn population with 21,368 and 14th in barn density at an average of one for every three square miles.

I find the USDA results unsatisfying given the barns excluded and lack of a uniform definition. Let me approach this question using U.S. census figures.  There were 2.04 million farms at the advent of the Civil War in 1860 to a high of 6.5 million in 1920.  Farms declined to 3.7 million in 1960 and 2.17 million in 2010.  Assuming there is a pre-1960 barn, no matter the condition, on 75 % of the 2010 farms, I would guesstimate 1.5 million barns currently exist on farms.

Note that urban carriage houses or barns no longer on farms are excluded in the 1.5 million, and I believe they are a sizable number.  The problem is that a good proportion of my 1.5 million barns on farms are in such a deteriorated condition that their eventual demise is certain.

I took a last approach, interesting but not statistically correct, and reviewed the barns I can recall since 1950 on 3-miles of Keefer Hwy., Portland where our family’s Centennial Farm is located.  In 1950 there were 12-barns of which 6-7 sheltered livestock and two of these were dairies.

Currently there are six barns—none in active farm use.  I believe based on their condition that four will remain in 2030.  So, 80-years after 1950 only one-third of this barn sample will exist.

I consider 1950 the “High Water Mark” of barn population.  Probably most barns on the 6.5 million farms in 1920 still existed in 1950 and relatively few barns were built in the 25-year period after the farm depression of the early 1920s, the Great Depression of 1929 and the scarcities of WWII.  My opinion is that six million barns existed in 1950, whether located on farms or not. Today, 62-years past the “High Water Mark”, I’d offer for your consideration that approximately two-thirds of the 1950 barns are either gone or going down.

In conclusion I guesstimate that 1.5-2.0 million of pre-1960 barns in all locations exist today in a fair to good condition.  That is the barn universe that we preservationists are attempting to save.  2050 is only 38-years in the future, what percentage of barns will remain a century after the “High Water Mark”?  They say, “Those that gaze at crystal balls to divine the future will be condemned to eat glass”.  Nevertheless I’ll venture that 20 % of the 1950 barns or 1.2 million will remain in a condition ranging from excellent to decrepit.

The romantic in me considers a barn as a trophy or heritage building whilst for others it’s a “money pit” requiring too many squares of shingles or gallons of paint.  My hope is that “scarcity makes the heart grow fonder“and barns in 2050 like covered bridges today will be generally revered.