08/05/2026
American Farming *250 August 4, 2026
The History of Barns in America
Even as a child, I loved the idea of farming (what kid doesn’t??) and have been noticing barns for a long time. Lillian and I were recently on a trip & went through the Harrisonburg area. We went off I-81, looking for a particular shop. Lillian, handling the GPS, suggested I come off earlier than I planned. I did and we took a beautiful drive past several farms in that area. Seeing two or three similar barns and then one that was different and newer caused me to wonder about the history of barns in the US.
The first barns were built as America was being settled. Until the late 1800s, a farmer’s primary focus was grain. Any livestock was for the farmer’s family, not for production. As a result, the English style barns were similar to long houses and were for grain storage. There would usually be a stall or two for the family cow or sheep, but the primary usage was grain.
Like all architecture, barns began to evolve as American farming began to reflect America more than Europe. Barns, particularly in the Northeast, began to be built on hills and had both an upstairs and downstairs, with wide doors for each. Grain could be kept on one floor, separate from any animals. Still, farmers didn’t have many livestock animals, so eventually, the bottom floor was used by many to store compost and manure. Understandably, that caused problems by introducing rot, bad smells and eventually disease.
Barns changed more and developed different styles. “Yankee” barns were tall, two-story buildings holding more livestock on the bottom with a loft on the top. Many of these still dot the landscape of the Northeast. The “Prairie” barn was built to hold more livestock and became popular out west as the shift from crop to animal production grew. In our area, one of the most popular styles were to***co barns, which were more open for ventilation and had racks for drying to***co instead of any stalls.
There are a few other styles of barns that reflect the culture of the group of farmers or directly point to what the farming community’s focus of production was, whether a specific crop or dairy, beef, sheep, goats, etc.
Our family is taking a short trip soon and I’m considering making a Barn Bingo game for us. I know, I don’t have little kids anymore, but really-shouldn’t learning be fun, even as adults? I learned quite a bit researching this article & I plan to pay more attention to those gorgeous old barns we pass!
