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Modern:
Round or Octagonal
Barns
Round or
octagonal barns, also known as nonorthogonal barns, are products of individual invention and changing
farm technology. They began to be promoted in farm journals in the 1870s,
with the earliest examples erected within a decade. An architectural
novelty, the nonorthogonal barn was "part of a far-reaching and complex
strategy to modernize farming," according to historians Keith Sculle and
Wayne Price.
Round or octagonal barns were championed
for their low cost, efficiency and durability. Though never widespread, they
continued to be built throughout the Midwest from about 1880-1920. By World
War I, the decline in agriculture statewide reduced their limited demand.
Problems cited include the difficulty in finding builders who understood the
design, waste of building materials, inconveniences such as dark interiors
and poor venting. Eventually, the nonorthogonal barn was "overwhelmed by
superior technology" and the depressed farm economy of the 1920s and ceased
to be built.
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Click on
the painting for an enlarged image |
The only example of a round barn in
Morgan County, the octagonal Guy barn was built in the early years of the
twentieth century.
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