A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent the height of round barn construction. Round barn construction in the United States can be divided into two overlapping eras. The first, the octagonal era, spanned from 1850 to 1900. The second, the true circular era, spanned from 1889 to 1936. The overlap meant that round barns of both types, polygonal and circular, were built during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Numerous round barns in the United States are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Octagon Barn, Richland Township is a historic building located near Jamaica in Guthrie County, Iowa, United States. Built in 1881, this is the oldest known octagon-shaped barn extant in Iowa. It measures 70 feet (21 m) in diameter. The modified hip roof, heavy timber construction, rectangular plan, and general purpose use mark this as a Coffin type. It was named for Lorenzo S. Coffin who is thought to have built the first round barn in the state. This barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The metal band Slipknot filmed the music video for Psychosocial here.
The Secrest Octagon Barn is a historic building located near Downey in rural Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It was constructed in 1883 by master builder George Frank Longerbean for Joshua Hunt Secrest as a hay barn-horse stable. The octagonal barn measures 80 feet (24 m) in diameter. It features red vertical siding and a sectional bell shaped roof that is supported by hand-laminated beams. The octagon-shaped cupola has the same roof shape as the barn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Fobes Octagon Barn is a historic building located south of Lanesboro, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1883, and at the time of its nomination it was one of 14 octagon-shaped barns from the 19th-century left in Iowa. The barn has a diameter of 66 feet (20 m) and features a stone foundation, and a hip roof with a square cupola on top. The modification of the roof suggests this is a "Coffine type" structure similar to others built by Lorenzo Coffin. The general purpose barn has two granaries, horse stalls, and the rest of the space is open for agricultural machinery. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Teeple Barn was a historic structure in Elgin, Illinois. It was a sixteen-sided barn designed by W. Wright Abell for Lester Teeple, a dairy farmer. In 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the only surviving sixteen-sided barn in Illinois. The barn was destroyed on May 27, 2007, following a storm. It was delisted from the National Register in 2020.
The Grimes Octagon Barn is an historic building located near West Union in rural Fayette County, Iowa, United States. It was built by Joe Butler in 1880 for M.W. Grimes. The building is an octagon that measures 65 feet (20 m) in diameter. It is one of 14 known 19th-century octagon barns that still exist on an Iowa farm. The barn features red metal siding, a roof composed of wedge-shaped sections and a hay dormer. The sectional roof marks it as a Stewart type that was named for the New York farmer and agricultural editor Elliott W. Stewart, who designed the prototype in 1874. The barn has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
The W.J. Buck Polygonal Barn was a historical structure located near Diagonal in rural Ringgold County, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1907 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1986. The building measured 65 feet (20 m) around. The structure of the barn was basically a central octagon with a sectioned roof. Double pitch sheds surrounded the barn characterizing it as an encircling wing type. The central section was six-sided and the wing was nine-sided. The plan appears to be the same as the one for the Lloyd Z. Jones stock barn published in Wallaces' Farmer on January 16, 1903, and again on October 25, 1907, and June 17, 1910. It has subsequently been torn down. It was removed from the NRHP in 2022.
The George Darrow Round Barn is a historic building located near Alta Vista in rural Chickasaw County, Iowa, United States. The true round barn was constructed of clay tile in 1916. The use of clay tiles suggests that it was influenced by the work of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station in the early 20th-century. It has a diameter 64 feet (20 m), and a height of 50 feet (15 m). The barn features a two-pitch roof and a 14-foot (4.3 m) central clay tile silo. It was built as a dairy barn and it was used as such until 1978. Dairy cow stanchions surround the central silo on one side of the barn in a circular arrangement, and horse stalls surround the other side. The barn has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) since 1986. It has subsequently been torn down. It was removed from the NRHP in 2022.
The Dyas Hexagonal Barn is a historical building located near Bellevue in rural Jackson County, Iowa, United States. Built in 1921, it is a round barn measuring 50 feet (15 m) around, with red horizontal siding on a stone foundation, a tin roof, and a central wood stave silo extending through the roof. Despite the common name, the building is actually eight-sided, and is also known as the Dyas Octagonal Barn. Originally the roof was flat or almost flat; it is one of four round barns known to have been built on the same farm. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
The Polygonal Barn, Van Buren Township was a historic building located in Van Buren Township in rural Jackson County, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1920 by Gus Klenney as a sale barn. They house livestock that are shown and sold to buyers. It is not known what livestock were sold here. The building was octagonal in shape and measured 50 feet (15 m) in diameter. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The structure has subsequently been torn down.
The Octagon Barn, Otter Township is a historic building located near Milo in rural Warren County, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1900 as a horse and dairy barn. The octagon-shaped building measures 54 feet (16 m) in diameter. The structure features a tall center section with a winged shed around it. It is covered in red horizontal siding and is topped by a sectional conical roof. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
The William Oakland Round Barn is an historic building located near Blairsburg in rural Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The true round barn measures 50 feet (15 m) in diameter. It is constructed of clay tiles and features a conical roof, aerator, a small dormer on the west side and a larger one on the east side as well as a 16 feet (4.9 m) central silo. William T. Oakland had this structure built in 1910 as a combination hog and sale barn. The ground floor was used for farrowing, while the sale ring was on the upper level. The 16 windows in roof provided light to the sales area. The barn has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
The Octagon Round Barn, Indian Creek Township is a historic building located near Iowa Center in rural Story County, Iowa, United States. It was built in around 1880 as a dairy barn. The octagon-shaped building measures 50 feet (15 m) in diameter. The modified hip roof, heavy timber framing, rectangular interior plan, and general purpose use marks this as a design influenced by Lorenzo S. Coffin, who built the first round barn in Iowa. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. The barn has deteriorated significantly and it is essentially a pile of wood now.
The Clark Round Barn was an historic building located near Tyrone in rural Monroe County, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1908 for Charles Henry Clark, Sr. The building was a true round barn that measured 48 feet (15 m) in diameter. It featured a conical roof, four-sided cupola and a central silo that was 14-foot (4.3 m) in diameter and 30-foot (9.1 m) high. The siding was pine and the original cedar singles had been replaced in the 1960s. The barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. It was torn down in 1999.
Rankin Octagonal Barn is a historic octagonal barn located near Silverton, Jackson County, West Virginia. It was built about 1890, and is an eight-sided frame structure covered with vertical wide board siding. Each side of the octagon measures 24 feet in length. It features a central cupola to provide light and ventilation.
The Harnsberger Octagonal Barn, also known the Mt. Meridian Octagonal Barn, is located near Grottoes, Virginia. Built about 1867, the barn is possibly the only example of such a barn in Virginia, as the building style was more popular in the expanding midwestern United States in the immediate post-American Civil War era than in economically depressed Virginia. The octagonal style was popularized in 1853 by A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building by Orson Squire Fowler.
The El Tovar Stables at the south rim of the Grand Canyon were built about 1904, at the same time the nearby El Tovar Hotel was built, to house the animals used in general transportation around the park. Collectively called the "transportation department" in the early 20th century, the three structures comprised a horse barn or stable, a mule barn and a blacksmith shop.
The Saint Mary Ranger Station is a ranger station in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. The log cabin was built in 1913 on the east side of the park overlooking Upper Saint Mary Lake. The oldest administrative structures in the park., it features an architecture that foreshadows the National Park Service Rustic style.
William Hill Polygonal Barn, also known as the Hill-Mershon Barn, is an eight-sided barn located at Bloomingdale, Parke County, Indiana. It was built about 1905, and is a two-story, octagonal frame building. It measures 30 feet in width and is topped by a sectional cone roof topped by an octagonal cupola.
The Frank Uehling Barn, in rural Dodge County, Nebraska near Uehling, Nebraska, is a round barn which was built in 1918. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
