Barns: Variations Reflecting the Spread of Knowledge

Although industry was a growing component of the economy in 1860, America remained in large part a farming nation, and barn were ubiquitous farm structures. Barns of the day were almost all rectangular structures. Circular barns and barns built as polygons were promoted later in the nineteenth century, although a few existed in earlier times. The Shaker community in Hancock, Massachusetts built a magnificent round barn in 1826; it still stands although with a modified roof structure. While no...