States documenting old barns to focus attention on rural landscape and its preservation

Rotting barns are an iconic part of the rural American landscape, serving as a reminder of our history. Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont and Washington and perhaps other states are conducting barn surveys to document these structures, The Associated Press reports. (Photo by Brian Brown; to view more photos of rural South Georgia, click here.)

Surveyors are taking photographs and collecting details "about the architecture, historical character, use and condition of the barns" to "give preservationists a glimpse of rural America and hints about how to save its bucolic landscape," the wire service reports. James Lindberg, a field director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation told AP the loss of these rural barns means "losing a connection to a really important part of our country's heritage."

Missouri is among the states with limited documentation on barns. Few of its farms are documented well enough to be included in the State Historic Preservation Office database of rural farmsteads, but some barn enthusiasts are hoping to change that by hosting a meeting to to investigate possible partnerships to encourage more documentation and reuse of rural barns as homes or businesses. (Read more)