Minnesota's Round Barns

by John Roscoe

The sight of a round barn on the rural landscape has always evoked curiosity. The observer is led to wonder, “who built this barn and why a round barn?” In Minnesota’s Round Barns author John Roscoe brings to light this unique form of architecture on the rural landscape of our state. He traces the history of round barns in America and explains why they were built. He then takes the reader around Minnesota, telling the story of its existing round barns and the families who built them. Each story is accompanied by color photographs. His travels have taken him from Polk County in northwestern Minnesota to Houston County in the southeast corner of the state. Although Minnesota was once home to 180 of these unusual structures, the author discovered that only 48 remain today. Minnesota’s Round Barns documents and preserves the existence of this distinct type of architecture in our agricultural history.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2019