Check Out Our Harvest!: An Update on Our Ongoing “Celebrate Your Barn!” Survey

You might remember hearing about the PA SHPO’s “Celebrate Your Barn” survey from our blog post back in June, from attending the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation’s 2025 Annual Meeting, from watching the news reporting on WGAL, from reading the newsletters from some of our state legislators, or by chatting with your neighbors – or another way. We’d love to know how you heard about our effort!

While our efforts to document and celebrate Pennsylvania’s barns are ongoing – click this link to submit a barn today! – we have been excitedly taking stock of our harvest and couldn’t wait to share some details from our bountiful barn crop with you!

Barn in Lake Latonka, Mercer County. Source: Photo submitted by owner.

Since the seeds of the “Celebrate Your Barn” survey were planted in June of 2025, the Pennsylvania Above Ground Survey Program (PAGS) has received submissions from over ONE HUNDRED Pennsylvanians have shared information about one or more of the barns that matter to them! For a project that started as a tiny sprout, the efforts of all who have submitted barns to this project so far have cultivated a bumper crop – thank you!

Phillips Octagon Brick Barn, North East, Erie County. Source: Photo submitted by owner.

From the far northernmost tip of Erie County (where you’ll find the Phillips Octagon Brick Barn in North East) to just a few miles over the Mason-Dixon Line from neighboring Delaware state (home to the Puddock Hill Barn), Pennsylvanians have been sharing information about the barns in their communities – and we couldn’t appreciate all your submissions more!

Puddock Hill Barn in Chester County. Source: Photo submitted by owner.

However! There is still more information to be gleaned to further our understanding of Pennsylvania’s historic agricultural landscape. While Somerset County currently leads the pack with the number of barns submitted to the “Celebrate Your Barn” survey (check out the Plummer Log Barn photo below), HALF of Pennsylvania’s counties haven’t had any submissions yet.

We haven’t received any submissions yet for the counties in orange.If you see your county in the list below, be sure to click through the “Celebrate Your Barn” survey  and change that!

Plummer Log Barn. Source: Photos submitted by owner, 2025.

The initial results of the “Celebrate Your Barn” survey are showing some interesting patterns in the types of data submitted. While this is what has been shared with us so far, we know not to draw conclusions from these patterns on their own!

Variety of construction dates for barns submitted so far.

For example, while 54% of the barns submitted to the survey date from between approximately 1850 and 1899, that doesn’t mean that the majority of Pennsylvania’s barns are from those decades. Instead, it means that more than half of the submissions to this documentation effort are from that era. This is important because it might be telling us something about how people think about barns and Pennsylvania’s agricultural history.

Since only a total of 23% of the barns submitted so far are from the 20^th century, the data is arguably hinting that people have a much easier time recognizing barns from the 1800s as part of Pennsylvania’s agricultural history.

However, like other buildings, structures, and sites, the National Register of Historic Places views any barn fifty years old or older as potentially historic. That means that a barn built during the 1976 Bicentennial commemoration in Pennsylvania is old enough to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places during the America 250 celebration!

Poster for the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations. Source; PA State Archives.

The data collected so far – in addition to being incredibly informative about the barns themselves – also helps the PA SHPO tailor the types of educational materials we create to help ensure that more Pennsylvanians can appreciate and learn about our history.

As we continue gathering stories and snapshots from across the Commonwealth, we’re reminded that every barn – no matter its age, style, or setting – adds something meaningful to Pennsylvania’s historic landscape and our agricultural story. Your contributions help us cultivate a richer, more complete picture of the places that have shaped our agricultural heritage.

If you haven’t shared your barn yet, we hope you’ll consider joining the “Celebrate Your Barn” survey  and adding your voice to our next harvest!

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