Tag: old barns

Barn-Raising Creates Community

  • "A timber framed barn being raised in New York's Adirondack Mountains."

When you pass those old barns by the side of the road, you’re seeing the work of whole communities. Farm towns across the country have a long tradition of neighbors helping each other. A tradition that faded as many farmers turned to steel-frames and sheet metal for their new barns. Now, a group of builders are working to recreate the old ways, raising barns using techniques handed down from early America. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brian Mann has the story:

Preserving a Piece of Our Heritage

  • Barn preservation groups across the country are working to save old barns - both the common designs, and the more unusual examples, like this one in St. Joseph County, Michigan. Photo courtesy of Mary Keithan, from her book, "Michigan's Heritage Barns," published by Michigan State University Press.

In rural areas across the country, the landscape is dramatically
changing. But while strip malls, subdivisions and mini-marts all
contribute toward urbanization, there’s another type of transformation
going on, as well. The face of our farmlands is changing, as
agriculture
becomes more modernized. And that’s got some people worried that a
classic symbol of American farming may soon fade away. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports: