| The
era of wood barns ended more than 50 years ago. How can we preserve outstanding
surviving examples? One way is to seek recognition for them by listing them in
the National Register of Historic Places.
Not
all barns are equal. Every barn is significant for the families and communities
that value them. But to be considered significant under National Register criteria,
barns must be associated with important events and persons, architectural and
otherwise. They might suggest turning points in the way builders constructed barns
or in the way farmers used their barns. They also must have retained their materials
and appearance from the time of their importance.
We
naturally want to place on the National Register barns that mark a difference
in barn design or set a new standard for constructing them, but we also want to
include those that represent how farming was done at a particular time. What is
significant about a barn for the National Register, at bottom, is what helps us
better understand their varieties and their place in the scheme of the history
of farming and rural architecture.
The
State Historical Society of Iowa hopes to encourage owners of certain kinds of
barns to pursue National Register recognition. To know if a particular barn might
be eligible for consideration, ask the following questions*:
- Is it very old (built
before 1870)?
- Is it very large (over
40 feet wide and over 60 feet long, not counting wings or sheds)?
- Was it built with all-stone
walls that extend from the foundation to the roof?
- Is it an unusual shape
(not rectangular or L-shaped, but square, octagon, round, or U-shaped)?
- Was it the site where
the first of a new breed of cattle or other livestock was introduced in this region
or state?
- Did an important event
(such as a farm protest meeting) take place there?
- Did an eminent agriculturist
work there?
- Was it publicized as a
model for new barn equipment, prefabrication, or innovative construction techniques?
- Was it built in accord
with blueprint plans that still survive (such as Louden Machinery Co. design)?
- Is it an early example
of curved rafter roof design in its vicinity?
- Does it have an unusual
series of interior plank trusses supporting the roof (perhaps a Clyde or “Iowa”
truss or a Shawver truss)?
- Does it have an unusual
design (architectural form, decoration, embellishments).
If you know of a barn that
meets one or more of these criteria—and, just as important, if it remains
an authentic reminder of its original appearance, workmanship, and materials—the
State Historical Society of Iowa would like to learn more about it.
Contact
Lowell Soike
600 E. Locust
Des Moines, IA 50319-0290
(515) 281-3306
Lowell.Soike@iowa.gov
* This checklist originally appeared in the Iowa Barn Foundation
Newsletter (Fall 1998).
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