From the rolling hills of Lancaster County to the quiet valleys of the Alleghenies, Pennsylvania’s barns are as diverse and storied as the landscapes they are part of. Now, we’d love to help tell the story behind your barn.

We’re inviting Pennsylvanians to contribute to an ongoing effort to document and celebrate the barns that define our state’s rural heritage. Whether your barn is a centuries-old bank barn, a family-built dairy barn, or a recently restored structure, we want to preserve its story.

Farmstead surrounded by fields and includes house, two small outbuildings, and a large stone barn.

John Strickler Farm, Dauphin County, dated September 28 1988. Image from PA SHPO files.

Wondering why we’re interested in your barn?

Every barn has a story, and your submission will help us celebrate the agricultural heritage, craftsmanship, and local pride found throughout the Commonwealth. Your contribution will become part of a growing collection that helps showcase and preserve Pennsylvania’s rich agricultural legacy — one barn at a time.

With the information you send us, PA SHPO will create a historic resource record to add your barn to the PA Inventory of Historic Places.

The information you share with us will not directly result in a National Register Eligibility determination. It will, however, help researchers, planners, and historic preservation professionals better understand barns as historic resources, build a fuller, more accurate, and more useful picture of Pennsylvania’s historic landscape, and provide the context necessary for supporters to advocate for more preservation outcomes for Pennsylvania’s barns.

In a world where landscapes are constantly evolving, this information becomes essential in making thoughtful and informed decisions that honor our past while also guiding our future.

Large bank barn with many louvered windows on side and main sides surrounded by green grass and woods.

William Hanna Barn, Addison Township, Somerset County, August 7, 2023. Image from PA SHPO files.

Wondering what to share with us?

We wanted it be as easy as possible for Pennsylvanians to share their barns with us. We’re asking for a photograph and answers to three simple questions:

  1. What do you call your farm or barn? Does it have a name, or would you like to give it one? If it doesn’t have a name, you can provide the address or another descriptor (like “Red Bank Barn on Lynn Lane.”)
  2. What is the street address or location? If your suggestion doesn’t have an address, you can provide the names of the streets in the nearest intersection, or you can describe the location another way! For example, answers could be something like: 521 River Road (Address) or “at River Road and High Street in Pleasant Township” (Intersection).
  3. What do you know about the barn? Be as brief or as detailed as you’d like. Here are some questions that you can read over to inspire your response:
    • Do you know any important dates in the structure’s past? A guess (or certainty) related to when it was built? Ideas about when any changes were made?
    • What’s the structure’s current purpose? Is this different from what it was in the past?
    • Are there any features that you find special or unique?
    • Do you have any favorite memories, stories, or facts associated with this barn or structure?

 Wondering what kind of photograph to send us?

Please provide at least one recent or current photo of the structure that you are sharing with us. You are welcome to send more than one!

An easy way to take a great photo is to pick a corner of the barn and walk away from it in a straight line until two sides are visible. Snap your picture from this spot to show two sides on the barn in one photo.  The photos in this blog post are all examples of two sides in one shot.

Two story barn painted red with a metal gable roof.

Barn at Stonersville Hotel, 5701 Boyertown Pike, Birdsboro, PA 19508, photo date April 26 2024. Image from PA SHPO files.

We would also love to have photos that show the barns construction and details, such as:

  • all sides of the barn,
  • foundation(s),
  • doors and entrances,
  • windows and louvers,
  • roof details,
  • forebay,
  • exterior ramp or access to upper floors,
  • overall framing and framing details,
  • stalls, lofts, threshing floor, storage areas and other interior spaces,
  • unique details or materials like original hardware, painted signage, decorative elements, or additions from different eras.

These images and details help create a more complete picture of how barns were built, adapted, and maintained over time.

Copies of other documents (newspaper articles, drawings, plans, et cetera) are welcomed too!

Two story building with a gable roof, vertical wood siding, louvered windows and 1891 in the gable.

Blackbury Farm (Robert McCullough Farm), barn and stable gable end view with build date, camera view NE, dated July 1992. Image from PA SHPO files.

Ready to share your barn with us?

You can submit your barn photos and descriptions in the way that works best for you:

Online: Simply click this link to upload photos and complete a short form with the three questions outlined above. It’s quick and easy.

Via email: Email at least one photograph and answers to the three questions above to Elizabeth Shultz. Those three questions are name, location, and what you know about the barn.

Snail mail: Prefer to send materials the old-fashioned way? No problem!  Mail them to this address:

PA State Historic Preservation Office
Keystone Building, 2nd Floor
400 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Have questions?

Feel free to email or visit our website.

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