Barn Preservation

The following are links to a variety of documents and websites will assist you with the restoration and preservation of your historic barn.

General Information

• SHB 2115 - Heritage Barn Preservation Program Info.
• Historic Barns: Working Assets for Sustainable Farms: National Trust Publication.
• Washington State Heritage Barn Register - Newly created historic register specifically designed for barns and other agricultural resources.
• National Barn Alliance.  The National Barn Alliance works to save and protect America's historic barns
• Barn Again! Barn Again was a national program sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that provided information to help owners of historic barns rehabilitate them and put them back to productive use on farms and ranches.
• Anatomy of a Barn - Specific guide to the forms and types of barns and silos that are in Washington State and across the PNW.
• Heritage Barns of Skagit County - Tour 55 historic barns across Skagit County.
• Historic Barns of San Juan Islands - Overview and tour of barns on San Juan Island
• Barns of the Dungeness Valley - Private effort to highlight barns in the Dungeness Valley
• Heritage Barns of Spokane County - Tour of barns of Spokane County.
• Barn Quilt Trail - Self-guided driving tour highlighting Kititas Valley Agricultral History and the American Quilt.
• Historic Barns of Linn County, Oregon - Context statement and history
• "Light on the Land: Construction Revolution in Farm Buildings of the Northern Rockies - 1890-1910" - Buildings & Landscapes, Marie o"Neill Conrad - Fall 2017.
• "The Impact of Sanitation Reform on the Farm Landscape in U.S. Dairying: 1890-1950" Buildings & Landsapes, Sally McMurry - Fall 2013.
• Hay Trolley Haven - The definative guide to dating hay trolley equipment.

Period Brochures

• Barn Plans and Outbuildings (1881)
• Homes for Home-Builders or Practucal Designs for Country, Farm and Village (1886)
• Plank Frame Construction - John Shawver - 1904
• Radford's Practical Barn Plans - 1909
• The Dairy Barn and Milk House, How to Construct Them: WA State College Agricultural Experiment Station - 1915
• Farm and Building Book: Big Sioux Lumber Co. - 1915
• Louden Machinery Company - 1916
• Concrete Construction for the Home and the Farm - 1916
• American Society of Agricultural Engineers Conf. - 1918
• Vitrified Tile Silos & Grain Bins: The Preston-Lansing Co.  - c. 1919
• Monitor: Skylights & Venilators - c.1919
• Making Silage - National Tank & Pipe Co. Portland, OR - c.1920
• Builder's Help: H. Lansdown Co. - 1920
• Contractor Lumber Supply Co. - 1921
• Plans for Small Barns: WA State College Agricultural Experiment Station - 1923
• Southern Pine Barns - 1923
• Plans for Concrete Buildings: Portland Cement Association - 1924
• Constructing a Wooden Hoop Silo: WA State College Agricultral Extension Service - 1926
• Modern Farm Buildings: Sears Roebuck & Co. - 1928
• Plans for Washington Farm Buildings & Equipment: County Agent Manual - 1934
• How to Build a Wind-Proof Gothic Barn - 1935
• The Blue Book of Barns: Olson Manual - 1938
• Modern Farm Suburban Buildings: Brown Blodgett Co.  - c. 1940
• Better Farm Buildings with Pre-cut Southern Pine - 1940
• Weyerhaeuser 4-Square Farm Building Service - 1946
• Concrete handbook of Permanent Farm Construction - 1946
• National Farm Buildings: National Plan Service - 1948
• Beatty Stable Equipment Co. - c. 1949
• Planning your Dairy Buildings: WA State College Extension Service - 1953
• How to Build Farm Buildings that last Longer - c. 1955
• Farm Buildings and Equipment: List of Available Plans: OSU Extension - 1957
• Planning Farm Buildings - OSU Extension - 1981

Grants/Loans/Tax Credits

• Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (NRCS). The Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses.
• Office of Farmland Preservation (WA State Conservation Commission). The mission is to promote the vitality of farming, farmers, and ranchers by ensuring that the State will continue to have productive agricultural lands. The Office achieves this through policy recommendations to the Governor, the Legislature, and others and by enlisting public support. Programs will be voluntary, recognize local priorities, and provide for economic incentives.
• Federal Tax Credits for Rehabilitating Historic Barns.  A guide to using the Federal Historic Tax Credit Program to rehabilitate your historic barn.

Preservation Information

• The Preservation of Historic Barns. General guide to preserving your historic barn; Preservation Brief #20.
• Painting your Historic Barn. Details on barn paint colors and the history of "barn red" paint.
• The Barn Journal On-Line. This extensive site is dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of traditional farm architecture.  Includes articles and stories about barn owners, preservationists, and experts, notices about upcoming events, and ads for those with buildings for buying, selling or donating.
• Dutch Barn Preservation Society.  The Dutch Barn Preservation Society, focused in New York and New Jersey, sponsors recording projects, educational barn tours, and publications, and is a great source of technical and historical information about Dutch Barns.  Washington state has many of these designs on the rural landscape.
• Rural Heritage Development Initiative. Part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Rural Heritage Initiative is dedicated to the recognition and protection of rural historic and cultural resources. Through educational programs, publications, and technical assistance, the Initiative supports the efforts of rural communities across the country to both preserve and live with their heritage. The Program works with communities on topics as diverse as farmland preservation, scenic byways, heritage areas and parks, historic roads, and sprawl.
• The Barn Pages.   General technical assistance site with links and contact information for barn restoration & preservation contractors and organizations.
• Iowa Barn Foundation.  A model foundation designed to encourage the preservation and restoration of barns.
• Michigan Barn Preservation Network.  The network fosters sharing of barn experiences, hosts an annual conference, publishes a regular newsletter, recognizes barn rehabilitation and education successes, helps identify speakers for programs, and assists in identifying rehabilitation information.
• Michigan Barn & Farmstead Survey
• Kansas Barn Alliance Inc. A Kansas not-for-profit organized in 2006 to discover, memorialize and preserve the story of rural Kansas, especially barns.
• Connecticut Trust Historic Barn Project. Project to survey every barn in the state.
• Natural Resource Conservation Service. Informational web site on barn preservation.
• Heritage Barns of Spokane County
• The Preston Barn. A successful rehabilitation story from Douglas County.
• WA State Centennial Farm Program - A Washington State Dept of Agriculture program to highlight farms that have been continuously operated by the same family for at least 100 years at the time of the state's Centennial.