Vermont Division For Historic Preservation

The Vermont Barn Census continues this fall with our second Barn Census Weekend! You too can learn what Vermonters all over the state already have - the Vermont Barn Census is a great way to learn about Vermont's history and the types of barns in the state and the way they were put together. The Barn Census is also a great way to get to know your community; you'd be amazed what you find when you explore the back road of your town!

What is the Vermont Barn Census? It's a project seeking help from volunteers in all of Vermont's 251 towns to identify barns and other agricultural outbuildings in their communities. The Census will answer questions such as: 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 Census' goal 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.

So far, volunteers of the Vermont Barn Census have recorded information on barns from Southern Vermont to the Northeast Kingdom. The Census has led two successful workshops on agricultural history and barn typology. We've made contact with individuals all over the state and had some great conversations on the past and future of Vermont's agricultural heritage.

The second Barn Census weekend will take place on October 18 and 19, 2008. Over the course of the weekend, volunteers will explore the roads of their communities to locate barns and will take a photo and some notes about barn features, history, use and current condition, and then submit the data over the web. Volunteers are welcome to survey one barn or many.

Interested? Check out our website (www.uvm.edu/~barn) for more information. On the website you'll find resources to help you learn more about Vermont's agricultural history as well as detailed information on the census - what to look for, how to record it, and how to submit that information. No prior experience is necessary! The Vermont Barn Census is designed to be fun and easy to carry out for all volunteers.

The Vermont Barn Census is a project of the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program, Historic Windsor's Preservation Education Institute, Save Vermont Barns, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and Preservation Trust of Vermont.

The Vermont Barn Census us funded by a Preserve America grant through the National Park Service to the State of Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

The small state of Vermont boasts a rich and rewarding historical heritage. Today, that history is well preserved in an exceptional collection of state-owned historic sites stretching the length of the state. Ranging from precontact encampments, to pivotal Revolutionary War sites, to the private homesteads of U.S. presidents, Vermont's historic sites chronicle the development of a state, its people and the nation around it.