The rural skyscrapers of our nation are disappearing.
The majestic barns that once dotted our landscape are crumbling into the earth. Some are victims of age,
others are lost to urban sprawl. Many suffer due to the expense of maintaining the expansive structures,
and others are allowed to collapse into the landscape since they no longer serve a practical purpose.

The loss is particularly noticeable in the plains of Wood County, where the monotony of flatness is
broken up by towering barns.
While barns are still needed for agriculture, the old wooden or stone barns are a dying breed. The ornate
structures of the past are being replaced by plain pole barns that are more efficient, less expensive to
build and less costly to maintain.
Not that farmers can be blamed for cutting their costs. But I applaud those owners willing to preserve
the historic barns of the past.
And I suggest that we appreciate those proud barns that are still standing – even those whose once
vibrant red is fading, and once sturdy walls are leaning. The stone bases may be sloping, the ornate
cupolas a little crooked, and the homestead names painted on the side worn by the weather. Even in their
weakened states, they are a valuable piece of the past.
They can tell us a lot about those who worked the land long before we got here.
For example, many barns in this region were red, not because farmers preferred that shade but because
they were practical, according to the Farmers Almanac.
Broad choices for paints and sealers did not exist decades ago. Farmers had to be resourceful in making a
paint that would protect the wood on their barns. A couple centuries ago, many farmers sealed their
barns with linseed oil, which is an orange-colored oil derived from the seeds of the flax plant. To this
oil, they would add ferrous oxide, or rust. Rust was plentiful on farms and because it killed fungi and
mosses that grow on barns, it was very effective as a sealant. It turned the mixture red in color, the
Farmers Almanac explained.
As paint became more available, many people stuck with red paint for barns in honor of tradition.
Barns were built to be practical and to be sources of pride for the farmers. Regions of the nation became
home to distinctly different looks of barn architecture.
One form of barns commonly found in the Midwest were bank barns. They got the name because the barns were
built against the side of a slight hill so farmers could use the earthen ramp to haul wheat or hay into
the upper storage area. The lower level, traditionally, housed livestock. Bank barns were often
constructed so livestock had a sunny spot to gather in the winter. The second story commonly extended
over the lower level, so the overhang sheltered the livestock from bad weather.
There are six other main types of barn architecture in various regions of the country:
• Round and polygonal barns, first built by the Shakers in the 1800s, are the rarest of barn types and
are scattered from New England to the Midwest.
• Tobacco barns, often seen throughout the South and East, provided a place for tobacco farmers to hang
and dry their crop after harvest.
• English barns were one of the first barn styles built in the states, featuring a simple and popular
design in New England during Colonial times.
• Dutch barns are among the oldest American barns and are known for their broad, gabled roofs, corner
stock doors, clapboarding and center wagon doors. Unlike most other barns, the internal structure of the
Dutch barn is relatively protected from the elements and can often survive exterior decay.
• Crib barns were common in the mountainous areas of the South, and featured one to six cribs built
inside for storage or for housing livestock.
• Prairie barns are among the most common barns in the American landscape. They were the barn of choice
for farmers in the West and Southwest because large livestock herds required great storage space for hay
and grain.
According to a barn preservation group in Illinois, as few as 10 percent of the barns the state had in
the 1920s are still standing.
So in order to preserve the once grand barns of Wood County – at least in memory – the Sentinel-Tribune
is planning to feature the structures in a calendar next year. Anyone who knows of a barn worthy of a
photo is asked to contact our farm editor at [email protected].
And take a drive around the country roads of the county, before all our rural skyscrapers are gone.