Category Archives: The Barn Journal

Raising the Barn at the Anna Julia Cooper School

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Our Teamworks & Timbers program visited the Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School in Richmond, VA, recently.  Over 50 students from this independent, tuition-free, faith-based middle school for students of limited resources primarily from Richmond’s East End neighborhood participated in putting together this life-sized 3-D puzzle. The raising took 4 hours where the teens worked as a team to figure out how to put together this 130 piece, 1100 pound timber frame. Along the way they learned about types of wood, history of rural structures, parts of a barn, and most importantly why team work is so important…. one person can’t raise a barn. Unknowingly, they employed their math, science, engineering skills to raise this Dutch-style barn with great success.

Thank you to principal, Mike Maruca, and his wonderful faculty and staff for allowing us into their school and sharing Teamworks & Timbers program with their students!


Teamworks and Timbers is the National Barn Alliance educational outreach program bringing youth face-to-face with America’s disappearing rural heritage and trades. The program is designed to plant the seed for preservation while sharing history and teaching science/engineering/construction skills to youth in grades 4-12.

Need Holiday Gifts for that Barn Lover? New Barn-focused Books

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Looking for a gift for your barn lover? There are two new books out and worth taking a look at.

Bygone Treasures and Timeless Beauties: The Barns of Old Milton County by Robert Meyers. This is the first book to document in words and beautiful color photographs the barns and the people who have made their marks on a historically significant region of Georgia. It takes the reader from the oldest barns in the region to some of the magnificent new horse facilities that will become the historic treasures of tomorrow. Charles Leik, president of the National Barn Alliance, gives his recommendation.

Michigan Barns, Et Cetera: Rural Buildings of the Great Lake State,  by Jerry R. Davis, is a skillfully illustrated book that features fifty images (suitable for framing) of barns, covered bridges, churches and other rural buildings throughout Michigan.  Each drawing is enhanced by a short vignette containing interesting facts, figures and anecdotes about the featured structure.  Michigan Barns, Et Cetera is an engaging read for anyone interested in art, architecture and the rural history of Michigan and the American Midwest. Anybody interested in the preservation of old barns and buildings will love this book.     About the Author: Jerry R. Davis is a Michigan native who immigrated to New Mexico about fourteen years ago. He taught junior high school history and geography in Michigan schools for thirty-one years.    He  is a member of SouthWest Writers and the New Mexico Book Co-op.

Both would make nice coffee table books.

 

Old New York Barn Survives & Adapts to join the Hi-Tech World

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Authored by Keith Cramer

This abandoned 19th-century barn was spared as the 1,250 acre high-tech commercial office park grew around it for many years. The developer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the first engineering college in the US, renovated  the 1760’s farmhouse for the Park’s main office. They had no real use for the farm’s barn, but were committed to saving it until a use was found. After  twenty years, and twenty-three office buildings were built, a donor, Pat, stepped forward to support Park Director Michael Wacholder’s, vision of turning the barn into a meeting and event space. Now, Pat’s Barn provides 5,000 square feet of conference space and also hosts weddings and parties of every kind. This Fall, Wacholder received the preservation Award from the Rensselaer County Historical Society which included a collection of artwork and books of historic barns. More more information, please visit: www.rpitechpark.com

Buffalo 7th Graders Raise a Model Barn [video]

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On October 18, over 200 7th and 8th graders from the Waterfront School in Buffalo, NY, built a model of a “Dutch” barn typically found in New York from 130 wooden pieces using only simple hand tools and without nails.

Teamworks and Timbers is the National Barn Alliance educational outreach program bringing youth face-to-face with America’s disappearing rural heritage and trades. The program is designed to plant the seed for preservation while sharing history and teaching science/engineering/construction skills to youth in grades 4-12.

This program was in conjunction with the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference being held in Buffalo from October 19-22. Stephanie Meeks, President & CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation observed keenly the kids in the building process.

Back from Buffalo!

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The National Barn Alliance is back from the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference in Buffalo. And we are still giddy from it! We had many successes over that week.

 

On Tuesday, we raised a Dutch model barn as part of our educational program, Teamworks & Timbers, with 200 students from the Waterfront School in Buffalo.

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, we held an affinity luncheon for thirty friends of historic barns where we gave away Charles Leik’s maple syrup from his Michigan farm and a barn puzzle during a trivia session.

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we raised our Dutch model hall in the Buffalo Convention Center. Board PResident, Charles Leik, join over 45 other barn enthusiasts for a tour of the agricultural heritage of western New York sponsored by the New York Barn Coalition and Preserve Western New York.

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday, our Dutch model barn was quite the draw in the exhibit hall, but then again how could you miss it?

 

 

 

 

 

We are already planning for the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference next year in Spokane.