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Tobacco Barns Hop Barns Also known as hop houses or hop kilns, hop barns were very common in areas of the United States where hops were grown. Hop barns were so common it was said that "every other farm" had one. In New York state's "hop belt" numerous hop barns were constructed between the early 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Ostego, Chenango, Madison, Oneida, Montgomery and Schoharie Counties were the primary areas contained within the hop belt.As hops production basically dwindled down to only Washington state, in the U.S., the remaining hop houses elsewhere have begun to disappear. Defunct hop kilns are found in areas where hops production is still on going, in Kent, England, for instance. Design The design of hop houses changed significantly over time, as did the area hops were grown in. In New York, for instance, early hop barns were low with some ventilation. Later hop barns evolved into taller, more narrow buildings, often topped with a cupola over the drying kiln area. Later in the history of New York hops production, with farmers focused on more efficient means of production, pyramid shaped barns were built, eventually evolving into multi-pyramid hop barns. Pole Barns  A pole barn or a cattle barn in North America is a barn that is essentially a roof extended over a series of poles. They are generally rectangular and lack exterior walls. The roof is supported by the poles which make up the outside barrier of the barn. The roof can be gabled or hooped. Pole barns are most often used for hay storage or livestock shelter. The advantages of pole barns include their low cost and their ability to store large quantities of hay in areas easily accessible by vehicles, machines and people.[7] This type of barn is very common in modern agriculture.In the United Kingdom a pole barn refers to a type of Dutch barn. Design The design of most pole barns is simple. Poles make up the outer walls and support the roof, usually light, of metal or canvas. Depending on the function of the barn there can be slight differences in style. For instance, a barn used for storing hay may lack any kind of lower exterior wall while a pole barn used to house livestock would have some form of wall meeting the roof. Dutch Barn  Dutch barn is the name given to markedly different types of barn, in the United States and Canada, and in the United Kingdom. In the United States Dutch barns represent the oldest and rarest types of barns. There are relatively few of these barns still intact. Some common features included a gabled roof, center doors on the narrow end and a pent roof over the doors. In the United Kingdom a dutch barn is a relatively recent agricultural development meant specifically for hay and straw storage. British Dutch barns represent a type of pole barn in common use today. Design styles range from fixed roof to adjustable roof; some dutch barns have honeycombed brick walls which allow for ventilation and serve a decorative function as well. Still other British dutch barns can be found with no walls at all, much like American pole barns.Design The exterior features a broad gable roof, a roof that in early Dutch barns would extend very low to the ground. The barns feature center doors for wagons on the narrow end. A pent roof, or a pentice, over the doors offered some protection from inclement weather. The siding was usually horizontal and had few details. Dutch barns often lacked windows and had no openings other than the doors and holes for purple martins. The design of the Dutch barn allows it to have a more massive presence than its actual size dictates it should, the result is that Dutch barns appear larger than they actually are. Inside the barns are supported by heavy structural systems. The mortised and tenoned and pegged beams are arranged in "H-shaped" units. The design alludes to cathedral interiors with columned aisles along a central interior space, used in Dutch barns for threshing. It is this design that links Dutch barns to the Old World barns of Europe. Another distinctive feature of the Dutch barn is the ends of the cross beams protruding through the columns. These protrusions are often rounded to form tongues. This feature is found in no other style of barn design. Round Barns  A round barn is a historic barn design. Numerous round barns in the United States are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880–1920 represent the height of round barn construction. Round barn construction in the United States can be divided into two distinct eras. The first, the octagonal era, spanned from 1850–1900. The second era, known as the true circular era, spanned from 1889–1936. The overlap meant that round barns of both types, polygonal and circular, were built during the period that round barns were popular in the United States.Design Designed in a distinctive circular shape, these barns were meant to take advantage of gravity to move hay from the loft to the cow stable below. In many cases, a silo was constructed to rise up through the round barn's center. A labor saving design, the round barn was promoted, for a time, by agricultural colleges as a progressive way to house dairy cattle. Rice Barns Rice barns are used ubiquitously in the rice cultivating world for the storage and drying of harvested rice. They are prevalent in many Southeast Asian nations, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia among them. In North America rice barns were especially common in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Design Rice barn design varies greatly from region to region and, especially, nation to nation. South Carolinian rice barns were often clad in cypress shingles.In Asia a common barn design is a four pole, open-walled building; a structure that does not resemble the classical image of a barn in any way. To submit images, simply email with photos attached to michael@imountain.net and please list photographers name and location of barn so that we can appropriately list the image. |
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Tobacco barns were once an essential ingredient in the process of air curing tobacco. In the 21st century they are fast disappearing from the American landscape in places where they were once ubiquitous.U.S. States, such as Maryland, have sponsored programs which discourage the cultivation of tobacco. In 2001 Maryland's state sponsored program offered cash payments as buyouts to tobacco farmers.A majority of the farmers took the buyout and hundreds of historic tobacco barns were rendered instantly obsolete.As tobacco barns disappear farmer have been forced to change their methods for curing the crop. In Kentucky, instead of curing tobacco attached to laths in vented tobacco barns as they once did, farmers are increasingly curing tobacco on "scaffolds" in the fields.