What are termed round barns include historic barns having true circular designs and also octagonal or other polygonal designs that approximate a circle. In the United States, in a first era of round barn construction, from 1850 to 1900, numerous octagonal barns were built. In a second era, from 1889 to 1936, numerous true circular barns were built.[1][2]
This list article includes surviving or historic round barns in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere. There were 19 historic round and polygonal barns in Canada identified as surviving in the 1970s, in a list compiled by members of a club and typed up by Katherine Kirkam.[3] According to Matthew Farfan, nine round barns survive in the Eastern Townships of the province of Quebec, all close to the U.S. border.[4][note 1]
Besides paying attention to Canadian barns, Kirkham also studied American barns; in the 1970s, she identified 444 surviving barns in the United States.[3] Many of them are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[5]
Dale J. Travis has identified and photographed (or collected photos of) round barns and other round or polygonal buildings throughout the United States and Canada.[6] His webpages document the loss of numerous historic round barns.
The periods during which round barns were built varies across U.S. states. Most of Indiana's round barns were built between 1900 and 1920, and their construction peaked in 1910. Iowa's peak years were from 1909 to 1922. All 44 of the historic round barns built in South Dakota were built between 1903 and 1946. North Dakota's peak years were from 1910 to 1916. South Dakota had none built before 1900 because the state had yet to be developed.[7]
As documented here, there are at least 11 surviving octagonal, true round, and other round-type barns in Quebec. A few others survive in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. A list of round or near-round structures in Quebec, including historic round barns, developed by Dale J. Travis has informed this compilation.[8][note 2] Similar for other provinces at Travis site. Travis also includes less historic structures.
This includes others not in Travis's compilation, such as the Higginson Round Barn, which is an impressive and old one.
Following is incomplete, but is intended to become a complete list, from West to East:
12-sided barn, site of farmers market, has been dismantled, moved and rebuilt adjacent to Sowerby Hall (formerly the Day and Bright Community and Recreation Centre) at 1410 Basswood Lake Road, near Hendry Street.[11][12][13][14][15]
Oldest surviving polygonal barn in Canada.[17] Also known as Grange Alexander-Solomon-Walbridge, it has a unique roof, became Quebec historic site in 2004 and became a museum in 2011[4][18][19]
Rbcq: "W. of Barnston. Hwy.141 W. from Barnston to Chemin Caron Rd., S. on Chemin Caron Rd. & SE on Chemin de Way's Mill & the barn would be on the right hand (S.) side of the road. Holmhurst Farm, true round barn, red horizontal siding, 2 pitch conical roof, louvered cupola."[8] This is Stanley-Holmes Round Barn, on Holmhurst Farm.
A 55-foot (16.8-m) diameter barn upon a poured concrete foundation. Its wood sided exterior has been covered in asphalt since the building's construction.
$1,500 building that with a diameter of 60 foot (18m). Served nine horse stalls and may have served cows as well. Its wooden cupola is raised sixty feet above a concrete foundation.
70 feetdiameter, 70 feet tall barn featuring two rows of clerestories; stands out as one of the most elaborately designed structures in eastern Indiana.
Former true round barn measuring 56 feet (17 m) around.[37] Featured stone and featured red horizontal siding, 2-pitch conical roof, aerator and an internal wood stave silo.[37] Destroyed in a thunderstorm during night of July 27, 2002.[38]
68 foot diameter barn, "significant for its ingenious construction, with its main story supported by an inverse pylon made up of an oak trunk upside down in the center of the basement"[44]:10
Numerous round and octagon barns in Kansas, including some already- or since-destroyed ones, are covered in a 1999 Kansas State Historical Society study.[47] Round barns in Kansas and these other states include:
60 Ft high and 55ft. in diameter. Has open center in upper floor where silo was originally. Now serves as a MN Wedding Venue. More updated pictures at www.roundbarnfarm.com
Famous Route 66 landmark, 60 feet in diameter, built by William "Big Bill" Odor, "subject of a massive, and award-winning, volunteer restoration effort in 1988 when the original roof collapsed"[50]
Schultz 15-sided barn (1918–1929)[52] at Cohecton not listed due to DOE owner objection
"Nine octagonal barns, most built in the 1870s and 1880s, have been noted in New York, and undoubtedly many more have never been recorded. Extant examples in the nominated group include the Baker octagon barn near Richfield Springs (1882), the Lunn-Musser octagon barn in New Lisbon (1885), and the Lattin-Crandall octagon barn in Catharine (1893)."[52]
McArthur-Martin barn in Kortright (1883) 16-sided[52]
Parker 13-sided barn (1896) about 15 miles north of Kortright in Jefterson[52]
"Roof types among the nominated examples include conical (for example the Schultz 15-sided barn at Cochecton, New York (1918), gambrel. (the Young round barn at Greene-1914), and domical (Bates barn at Greene)."[52]
12-sided barn built 1910, restored 1990, at Green Mountain Cultural Center[60] Farm had been in one family seven generations.[61] An "Inn at the Round Barn Farm" is there.
↑ This list confirms existence of 15 round or polygonal barns in Canada (8 of them in Quebec near the U.S. border) from Google and Bing satellite view, as of the satellite photos presented in Google and Bing in March 2016.
↑ One barn in Quebec on Chemin Tetreault noted by Travis as possibly gone, is not now found on Google maps satellite view.
↑ Round and Polygonal Barns of Indiana, (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, NRIS Database, National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
1 2 "Round Barn Capital of the World?". Fulton County Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2012-07-09. A list of all the round barns in the United States compiled by members of the Covered Bridge Society and typed by Katherine Kirkham in 1970s lists 444 round and polygonal barns in the U. S. and 19 in Canada.
↑ Alexander, M.J. (2017), "Round and Round", 405 Magazine, vol.3, no.2, Oklahoma City, OK: Open Sky Media, p.23, archived from the original on 2017-02-22, retrieved 2017-02-22
↑ "16-Sided Barn". George Washington's Mount Vernon. Archived from the original on 2021-06-09. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
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