Old Vermont Barn
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Our Old Vermont Barn
The old barn on our farm in Vermont was built by my Great-great grandfather in about 1870. He learned to build from his father and grandfather in a tradition passed down from the first New England settlers. He took those traditions but he applied new agricultural methods to the way he built his barn. Though his grandfather, Garner Rix, had probably built an English Barn, one story with doors opening on the long side, Danial Rix, however, built a Bank Barn.
Come on into the barn. Smell the hay and listen to the cows, sheep, pigs and horses moving around in their stalls. What can we learn from Daniel Rix's Barn?
Come on into the barn. Smell the hay and listen to the cows, sheep, pigs and horses moving around in their stalls. What can we learn from Daniel Rix's Barn?
The Old Barn's Table of Contents
What can you learn about Daniel Rix from studying the Old Barn?
Photo Credit: Looking out into the Barnyard
in the Public Domain
Features of an Old Bank Barn
This old barn has three and a half stories. The cellar with its stone walled foundation was a place to collect manure, house the pigs and store the wagons. The second floor had horse stalls, cow stanchions and a work bench. The third floor had room to store hay with huge double doors that opened onto a ramp for wagon loads of loose hay to drive right in. The top floor was for storing more hay and some of the hay is still there today.
In the front corner of the old barn there is a square silo. Invisible from the outside, it was used to store grain and could be filled from the third floor with access from the second floor as well as the cellar. I understand that this style of indoor silo was built for only a short time before the round, outdoor silos took their place. There may have been a round silo on my farm at one time but there is no sign of it now.
The roof was originally covered with cedar shingles. Those shingles have been since been covered over with tin roofing.
The huge doors that open off the ramp are large enough for a wagon full of loose hay to be driven into the barn.
When the small 12 over 12 pane windows were replaced in the house for more modern 2 over 2 windows, the old windows were added to the barn.
In the front corner of the old barn there is a square silo. Invisible from the outside, it was used to store grain and could be filled from the third floor with access from the second floor as well as the cellar. I understand that this style of indoor silo was built for only a short time before the round, outdoor silos took their place. There may have been a round silo on my farm at one time but there is no sign of it now.
The roof was originally covered with cedar shingles. Those shingles have been since been covered over with tin roofing.
The huge doors that open off the ramp are large enough for a wagon full of loose hay to be driven into the barn.
When the small 12 over 12 pane windows were replaced in the house for more modern 2 over 2 windows, the old windows were added to the barn.
- The History of The Inn at Woodchuck Hill Farm - Grafton, VT
- The barn on the property is known as a "bank barn". It is constructed against a large stone wall built into a sloping earth bank. This allowed for hay to be brought directly into the second floor by wagon and stored. The hay was dropped down to the animals on the lower level as needed.
This ramp is similar to the stonewall ramp build on the back of the Daniel Rix Barn. - What is a Bank Barn?
- A two-story barn usually built into the slope of a hill and oriented so that the ground floor is protected from the prevailing wind. An inclined driveway leads to a large sliding door on the upper floor, which contains an area set aside for threshing grain, storing grain, and storing animal feed. The level below provides housing for animals and is entered at ground level from an enclosed yard.
Inside the Old Barn
How was the old barn constructed?
Photo Credit: barn interior, Putney, Vermont
Used under creative commons
Many young men moved west from Vermont to Missouri. They took their style of building barns with them as seen in this picture from an old Missouri barn which looks remarkably similar to the second story of Daniel Rix's Barn. Both were built at about the same time.
I believe that beams, possibly from the original barn built by Garner Rix, were used to build the bank barn. Some of the timbers are made of hand hewn beams while all of the main outside beams are made of sawn beams. Some of the rafters in the basement level are made from logs with the bark trimmed off. The whole barn is held together with pegs.
- WALNUT SPRINGS FARM
- Stroll back in time as you tour five buildings on the old HOSMER DAIRY FARM, the
farm that pioneered the dairy industry in Southwest Missouri. Two large turn-of-the-century barns are listed on the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES and house antique farm machinery, buggies, wagons, sleighs, and other antiques.
Wood Shed, Barn and Corn Crib
Garner Rix Dewey's Old Barn
Photo Credit: Family Photo
by Evelyn Saenz
To the left you see the woodshed. The openness allows air to dry the wood while the roof keeps the wood out of the rain and provides a place for chopping.
The big sliding door on the old barn gives access to the stables and the workbench.
The corn crib to the right was built with open slats allowing the air to flow freely. A shoot on the backside made loading the crib easy from the ramp or bridge that was built on the upper side of the barn. That ramp had a bridge that allowed wagons filled with loose hay to enter the upper story. The hay would then be forked down to the animals all winter.
Hay Wagon
The hay that is up in the top floors of the barn was put in by my great grandfather nearly 100 years ago. When I look up and see it I imagine seeing the tall hay wagon, the sweaty horses and hearing him calling out to direct them into the barn.
English Barns in Vermont
Old Vermont Barns 1770's to 1900's
Photo Credit: English Barn by Putneypics
Used under creative commons
The first farmers to move to Vermont built barns based on traditional designs passed down from the original colonists who came from England. These old barns, called English Barns were the type most often constructed all the way up until about 1900. English Barns with their unpainted vertical boards featured large, hinged wagon doors on the long side. These barns were built on level ground without a cellar and measured approximately 30 feet wide by 40 feet long. Entering an old English Barn you would walk onto the threshing floor. Grain and hay would have been stored on one side. Cows and horses would have been stabled on the other.
This is probably the style of barn that Garner Rix built in 1790 when he built his home and cleared the land. Garner Rix was the original owner of our property and my great, great, great, great grandfather. As time went on and his son, Daniel Rix, built our house in 1840 the land had been cleared Daniel needed a barn with more stables, room for more hay and a space below for storing manure. Looking at the main beams from the barn that Daniel Rix build, I believe that they probably tore down Garner Rix's barn and used the beams to build Daniel's new barn, the barn that stands at our Royalton Bed and Breakfast today.
Taking Care of Your Old Barn
Taking Care of Your Old Barn: Ten Tips for Preserving and Reusing Vermont's Historic Agricultural Buildings1 point
Tearing Down the Old English Barn
Building the Yankee Barn
Photo Credit: Daniel Rix's Yankee Barn
Family Photo by Evelyn Saenz
This is probably the style of barn that Garner Rix built in 1790 when he built his home and cleared the land. Garner Rix was the original owner of our property and my great, great, great, great grandfather. As time went on and his son, Daniel Rix, built our house in 1840 the land had been cleared Daniel needed a barn with more stables, room for more hay and a space below for storing manure. Looking at the main beams from the barn that Daniel Rix build, I believe that they probably tore down Garner Rix's barn and used the beams to build Daniel's new barn, the barn that stands at our Royalton Bed and Breakfast today.
Reading about Old Barns
How are barns built? Have you ever thought of building your own barn? Maybe you would like to build a dollhouse barn. These books are wonderful additions to the classroom library. They invite exploration.
As you learn more about different styles of barns and what various sections of the barns are used for, reading these books becomes easier even for beginning readers. These books about barns are often chosen for silent reading.
As you learn more about different styles of barns and what various sections of the barns are used for, reading these books becomes easier even for beginning readers. These books about barns are often chosen for silent reading.
Old Barns in Vermont
Garner Rix Dewey's barn, in the style of the Old English Barn, was not painted. It did, however, have windows, a stone cellar, and was built on a hillside.
Though no evidence of Garner Rix's original barn, he undoubtedly had one. We know where the cellar hole is for his house. Maybe next summer we will be able to tell where the barn was.
These pictures above show Yankee Barns with windows in the places where Garner Rix Dewey put the old 12 X 12 windows that he had taken out of the house when remodeling.
automatically generated by Flickr
An English Barn that resembles Garner Rix's Barn
Garner Rix probably built his barn like the one shown in this model. His old barn no longer exists nor does there seem to be any records of it. It may have been torn down to build the new barn.
Daniel Rix, Garner Rix's son, built his barn with the same kind of huge post and beams, cedar shingles and boards running up and down. The doors were on the ends of the barn rather than the sides as in this model. There is a corn crib just to the side of it that is also quite similar. Styles had changed since Old Garner Rix had built his barn, Daniel Rix built his barn much taller and against a bank to allow wagons to enter on the third floor.
Daniel Rix, Garner Rix's son, built his barn with the same kind of huge post and beams, cedar shingles and boards running up and down. The doors were on the ends of the barn rather than the sides as in this model. There is a corn crib just to the side of it that is also quite similar. Styles had changed since Old Garner Rix had built his barn, Daniel Rix built his barn much taller and against a bank to allow wagons to enter on the third floor.
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The Vermont Barn Census
The Vermont Barn Census -- a statewide, volunteer effort to take stock of the number, type and condition of all the historic barns in Vermont -- is a project of the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, the UVM Historic Preservation Program, Historic Windsor's Preservation Education Institute, Save Vermont Barns, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and Preservation Trust of Vermont.
See the photos volunteers have submitted of Vermont barns and listen to historic preservation graduate student and project intern Michael Plummer talk about the effort in this audio slideshow.
See the photos volunteers have submitted of Vermont barns and listen to historic preservation graduate student and project intern Michael Plummer talk about the effort in this audio slideshow.
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Look Who's Twittering about Old Barns
Old Vermont Barns in the News!
- Barn Census: Calling All Volunteers
- How many barns are there in Vermont? What kind of condition are they in? Are we losing significant numbers each year? What can be done to preserve these icons of our history and landscape? The goal of the Vermont Barn Census is to carry out, for the first time, a statewide census of Vermont's barns that will lay the foundation for further efforts to preserve them.
Brattleboro Retreat Farm ventilator
The project will recruit volunteers in all of Vermont's 251 towns to identify barns and other agricultural outbuildings in their communities. The Barn Census will occur mainly over several highly publicized weekends in the summer and fall of 2008 and spring and fall of 2009. Students from elementary to high school will be welcomed to participate. Volunteers will take a photo and some notes about barn features, history, use and condition in the field, and then submit the data over the web.
The fall Barn Census weekend will be October 18-19, 2008. Get ready by attending a workshop on September 27th, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at historic Glen Dale Farm in Cornwall with barn experts Jan Lewandoski and Tom Vissor. Sign up for the Barn Census e-mail list and check the Vermont Barn Census Website for further information on how to participate. Contact Mike Plummer via email at Mike.Plummer@state.vt.us or at (802) 828-1220. - Help for Vermont barns - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-
- WCAX.com is your local source for information in Burlington, Vt., delivering breaking news, weather and sports. Covering all of Vermont, the Upper Valley in New Hampshire and New York's North Country.
- Vermont Barn Census
- How many barns are there in Vermont? What kind of condition are they in? Are we losing significant numbers each year? What can be done to preserve these icons of our history and landscape? The goal of the Vermont Barn Census is to carry out, for the first time, a state-wide census of Vermont's barns that will lay the foundation for further efforts to preserve them.
Farm Animals in the Old Barn
Garner Rix Dewey's Domenstic Farm Animals
On Daniel Rix's farm, Merino sheep where raised for wool. A few horse blankets made from these sheep are still in the barn.
During the Civil War, Daniel's nephew, Garner Rix Dewey raised Morgan horses to be sold to the Union Army. This was considered so important that raising Morgan horses was considered equal to serving as a soldier.
Cows were kept for milk as well as making cheese and butter. Garner made his own cheese forms which still hang in the workshop.
Animals in Garner Rix Dewey's Old Barn
Domestic Animals in the Old Barn
The following links will lead you to more unit studies to learn about the domestic animals that were raised on the Rix Farm. These animals and more were raised on the Rix Farm. Adaptations to the barn were made for many of these farm animals.
Cows Aren't the Only Ones
Sure you know that milk comes from cows but did you know people around the world milk other animals as well? There are many books about milk and milking to ...
The Thanksgiving Tale of Tobias Turkey
Tobias Turkey is a determined little turkey who wants to win the prize for being the biggest turkey on Farmer Joe's Farm. This Thanksgiving Tale by Sand...
The Little Red Hen Unit Study
Once upon a time there was a little red hen and her baby chicks. The mother hen found some grains of wheat and decided to plant them in order to make a loaf ...
Garner Rix Dewey Kept Morgan Horses in the Old Barn
Photo Credit: Frog Tongue by Government & Heritage Library, State Library of NC
Used under creative commons
During the Civil War, Garner Rix Dewey raised Morgan Horses for the War effort and a flag flies over his grave in recognition of this service.
- The National Museum of the Morgan Horse: Morgan Horses in the Civil War
- Morgan horses are known to have been used in both the Union and Confederate armies. Due to the quality of the Morgan horses and their physical attributes, they were in high demand. They were hardy and their thick winter coats enabled them to survive without shelter during bad weather, they were able to survive on scant forage, their resilient skin reduced saddle sores, and the Morgans were highly trainable and willing to please.
- Substitutes, Civil War
- No conscription in the North during the Civil War was absolute. The drafted man could always hire a substitute if he could afford it. Starting in 1862, the U.S. government allowed this escape from military service on the theory that, so long as each name drawn from the wheel produced a man, it made no difference whether the drafted person or one hired to take his place appeared for muster.
- Vermont State Animal: Morgan Horse
- Coloring page of the Morgan Horse.
The Banyard Alphabet
An Alphabet around the Old Barn
- Farm Alphabet
- Farm Alphabet Poem
(Source unknown)
A is for the apples that grow on trees.
B is for the barn where animals live.
C is for the cow that gives milk.
D is for the dog that guards the sheep.
etc.
from Little Giraffes
Barn Books
These are some of our favorite barn books. Reading a good book invites children to question, observe and surmise about life and these books are no exception.
Photo Credit: Looking out into the Barnyard
in the Public Domain
Looking out the Old Barn Door
The Threshing Floor in the Old Barn
As I look out the old barn door I try to imagine all the children who grew up there. I can see them sitting in the doorway looking out at the pigs, chickens and horses. Helping their parents with the daily chores. Learning how to produce their own food and preserve it for winter.I imagine those children going beyond the barnyard, through the pasture and out into the wood to see what wild animals were there. I imagine that they may have run across chickadees and woodpeckers, foxes and woodchucks. They probably caught trout in the brook and collected wildflowers to bring home to their mother.
Photo Credit: Looking out the Old Barn Door
is in the Public Domain
Learn more about threshing during the 18th Century with this hands-on unit study. Farmers like Garner Rix spent many hours out in the old barn using a flail to beat the grain from the straw on winter days.
18th Century ThreshingGarner Rix had built a house by 1798 and probably had been girding trees and clearing land for several years before that time. Once enough land was cleared, ...
Wild Animals around the Old Barn
Animals found under and around Garner Rix Dewey's Old Barn
Woodchucks that are the descendants of the ones Garner Rix found when he arrived in Royalton still live under his barn.
Woodchucks Under the Porch
Woodchucks chuck wood and Groundhogs determine the coming of spring. They eat your garden, dig holes under the porch but look adorable when they are first bo...
It'sw Turkey Time!
Wild Turkeys nearly became extinct in the 1930's but times have changed and turkeys have benefited. Now turkeys are often found in fields and on the edge of ...Fireflies: Twinkling Lights of the Meadow
Have you ever gone out on a summer evening to catch fireflies? The fireflies flit and fly everywhere. Soon you have five and then six. One escapes and then y...
Raccoons in the Corn
Raccoons love to investigate. In this unit study we will be investigating the lives of raccoons with both fiction and non-fiction books, sensory table explor...Creatures of the Woodlands
Spring is here! The little Woodland Creatures have made it through the long winter and are emerging from their winter dens. They are looking forward to the a...
Wild Animals in the Old Growth Forest
What kinds of wild animals did Garner Rix first encounter when he and his family first arrived in Royalton in 1779? At that time Vermont was still covered in...
Red Spotted Newt Unit Study
Have you ever walked through the woods on a wet spring day and seen bright red salamanders scurrying across the leaf litter? Salamanders need the moisture of...
The Meadow
Garner Rix Dewey's Meadow filled the Old Barn with Hay
A scythe hangs in the Old Barn. It's a bit rusty and quite dull. There is a picture of Garner Rix Dewey with that scythe hanging over his shoulder standing in front of the house with other members of the family. Garner worked hard to mow enough grass to fill the hay mow of the old barn. Some of that hay still lies up in the top story of the old barn waiting for Garner to bring the cows in to feed.
Barn Owls in the Old Barn
Barn owls are cavity nesters which means they prefer to nest in dark places like tree cavities, caves, pipes or barns.
In many parts of the world they have chosen to nest in barns and silos, high in a dark corner, and normally where humans wont see them. This is why they are called "barn owls".
The reason they do this is because most of their natural nest sites have been destroyed, and barns are usually located near grassy fields where their prey can be found.
You can encourage even more barn owls to live near your barn with Barn Owl Nesting Boxes
- Barn Owls
- The Barn Owl can keep a barn or structure free of mice better than most cats.
- Barn Owls
- Barn Owls live in open to partly open habitats such as grasslands, farmland, and fresh and salt water marshes. They nest in natural tree cavities or manmade nest boxes adjacent to fields or marshland. See more details below.
Barn owls eat mostly small rodents such as mice, voles, and rats. Their preferred prey is the meadow vole. They will also feed on small birds.
Vermont Barns
Learn more about the Garner Rix Farm and Old Barns
Linda mentions that the first barns in Vermont were built with boards going straight up and down in a style brought over from England. That is the style of Garner Rix's barn. To this day the boards have never been painted.
What was Happening in the Old Barn?
Beyond the Old Barn
Learn about the History of Agriculture
Primary and Secondary sources for Elementary Children
- Harvest of History | The Farmers' Museum
- Harvest of History, developed by The Farmers' Museum, is an interactive website and interdisciplinary 4th-grade curriculum dedicated to agriculture and rural life in New York State.
Old Barns in Vermont are Disappearing!
Heavy snow each year takes out barns from the tremendous weight. Rotting timbers and missing windows and doors add to the problem. How can we save our old Vermont barns?
- Historic Vt. barn burns after lightning strike
- NORWICH, Vt. ? A barn dating back to the 1800s is one of the buildings that caught on fire in Vermont this week due to lightning strikes. For more from BostonGlobe.com, sign up or log in below To continue, please sign up or log in to BostonGlobe.com ...
- Historic barn among Vt. buildings on fire
- NORWICH, Vt. (AP) ? A barn dating back to the 1800s is one of the buildings that caught on fire in Vermont this week due to lightning strikes. Anne Crewe's home and barns in Norwich are on the state Register of Historic Places.
- Vermont Briefs
- Police say Companion has never held a Vermont's driver's license or learner's permit. NORWICH (AP) -- A barn dating back to the 1800s is one of the buildings that caught on fire in Vermont this week due to lightning strikes. Anne Crewe's home and barns ...
Stone Stoup Unit Study Directory
Stone Stoup Homeschooling Online Unit Study Directory
- Unit Studies: Stone Soup Homeschool Network - Stone Soup Homeschool Network
- Stone Soup Homeschool Network We are very excited to be entrusted with this rather comprehensive Unit Study Database. It was started many years ago, and maintained for the last decade by the
Who's Twittering about Vermont Barns?
Come Visit the Old Barn
Come Visit Vermont
Photo Credit: Vermont Dirt Road
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
We're accepting RESERVATIONS. Hurry!
What do you love about Old Barns?
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drbilltellsexcitingstories
Apr 22, 2012 @ 8:13 pm | delete
- Another wonderful lens, Evelyn. I will feature it in my new lens: Old barns are heritage icons. I share you love and passion for these old barns. ;-)
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grannysage Mar 7, 2012 @ 1:16 pm | delete
- I've never seen a bank barn. What an inventive idea.
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Frischy
Mar 7, 2012 @ 7:37 am | delete
- I enjoy old barns. The barns of Kentucky have always been tobacco barns, which resemble the English barn in your photos. The doors are on the short ends and the barns are very tall. In the autumn, farmers would cut the tobacco & put it on long stakes. Then they would hang the stakes up in the rafters of the barn to dry. When I was younger, I loved to wander into a tobacco barn and smell the fragrance of the tobacco. The tobacco barns also had a stripping room in one corner, which could be heated, because the stripping (pulling the dried leaves off the stalks) would be done in early December, when it is cold in Kentucky.
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of_different_sorts
Dec 4, 2011 @ 11:56 am | delete
- Old barns are fascinating subjects to photograph!
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hapsla1971
Dec 3, 2011 @ 2:38 am | delete
- Dynamite.
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aLundy
Aug 29, 2011 @ 7:30 am | delete
- Interesting lens - great photogratphy
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bujanan
Mar 24, 2011 @ 10:58 pm | delete
- I can't believe how green the countryside is and when the barns are surrounded by all that foliage, WOW! Beautiful lens.
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KathyMcGraw
Feb 14, 2011 @ 10:55 pm | delete
- I absolutely loved this lens...full of info and just the idea of your great great grandfather building that barn, wow. I remember going to a barn photo expo in Montana. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I have so many pictures of old barns, just love them. Thanks for the wonderful memories and info...Blessed by an Angel ;)
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Brick_House_Fabrics
Dec 20, 2010 @ 11:59 am | delete
- My barn is attached to the house, and is brick, as is the house- 1840's
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RinchenChodron
Dec 20, 2010 @ 11:03 am | delete
- Lots of great information. I learned a lot! Thanks
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AslanBooks
Oct 4, 2010 @ 1:37 pm | delete
- I love barns...I even have a lens that says so! Nice lens
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Eliot Lothrop
Aug 24, 2010 @ 8:40 pm | delete
- Great website, we love restoring Vermont barns. Check out our website www.buildingheritage.com There's even video of a hand raising in there on the media page. Keep up the good work.
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joan cure, bethel, vt, jmcure1942@aol.com
Oct 4, 2010 @ 1:59 pm | delete
- we have a small barn that needs to be restored, the foundation in one corner is gone, we are in bethel, vt ..we restored it about 30 yrs ago, and we need to do it again............jmcure1942@aol.com
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Pastiche
Aug 6, 2010 @ 1:23 pm | delete
- We played for hours on end in the old barn at our New Hampshire home. My brother's barn in PA is a typical banked barn - and his house was built the same way!
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vallain Dec 25, 2009 @ 2:07 pm | delete
- I love this lens about the old barn. I'll link it to my lens on saving old barns.
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About the Author of this Page
Find out what I'm up to when I'm not out in Garner Rix Dewey's Old Barn.
The Old Barn in the Kingdom
Come write about old barns on Wizzley, a fun and easy place to express your opinion:
by Evelyn_Saenz
My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning... more »
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The Family and the Farm
