Fort Dodge Messenger, IA
06-10-06
Barn survey draws interest
FD meeting tells how to record, preserve history
By RANDY MUDGETT Messenger staff writer
Historical pieces of Iowa’s agricultural history are disappearing before the eyes of
this generation, and in order to preserve these places for coming generations of
Iowans an effort is needed today.
On Saturday, the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance, along with The Messenger,
Farm News and Iowa State University Extension hosted the first of several
meetings discussing the topic of documenting farmsteads plus offering
suggestions on preserving historic buildings at these sites.
Rod Scott, a spokesman for the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance, said of the
2.1 million farmsteads left in the United States today, consolidation and emerging
technologies will reduce the number of farms left in Iowa to less than 1 million in
the coming years.
‘‘These farms and the barns, corn cribs and farm houses still standing tells the
story of America, a history that has been handed down to us from our forefathers,
but one we have failed to document,’’ Scott said.
Unlike, county and state historical groups, agriculture has been left behind when
it comes to documenting change from generation to generation. Scott said when
settlers arrived in Iowa in the 1880s or before, they brought with them a sense of
place, whether that place was Germany, Ireland or Norway. As the settlers
constructed homes, barns and other outbuildings on the farm, much of the style
from their home country came with them.
In Iowa, that is never more evident than the builders of barns across the prairie.
Scott said as Iowa was settled from east to west, styles of barns were adapted to
the farm’s personality. Many barns were built by groups of men, constructed in
days, perhaps milled on site and mortise and tenons or wooden pegs held joints
together. With the arrival of the industrial age, barns took on new shapes, some
built to house dairy cows with giant haylofts. Others, were modified from former
horse barns to areas that could house stock cattle as a structure to guard against
the harsh Midwest climates.
Documenting history
Several years ago, Michigan State University developed a Barn and Farmstead
Survey, a document that allows landowners the opportunity to describe the
design qualities of an individual farmstead. Landowners answer a few basic
questions about their farmstead including the condition of the barn, farmhouse,
outbuildings plus sketch a layout of the farm site along with submitting
photographs.
Two years ago, Hardin County decided to form a committee, raise money and
begin documentation of all of the farms in the county. Scott said the effort has
given area youth, agribusinesses, farmers and the community-at-large reason to
be proud of their heritage.
‘‘We have 900 farmsteads in Hardin County,’’ said Scott, who helped organize
the effort. ‘‘Each year in the spring after planting or in the fall after harvest, we
send out groups of either volunteers, 4-H or FFA members to document,
photograph and talk to the owners about their farmstead.’’
Scott said the information recorded on the Hardin County survey has since been
entered into a national database intended for historical purposes. Indeed, the
farms are well documented to the modern degree as the farms are mapped with
Global Positioning Systems — GPS.
‘‘This is a win-win in our county,’’ Scott said, ‘‘as we are documenting these
farms for the generations that come after us.’’
Scott said the cost of documenting each farmstead in a county is mostly time
consuming rather than expensive. Teams setup interviews with landowners in
advance, and then may visit four or five farms on a specific day when the youth
can be accompanied by an adult. In the case of Hardin County, local businesses
contributed $3,000 to a fund dedicated to conduct the survey.
The farmstead survey meeting also discussed the potential funding available to
help landowners afford restoration projects of their own. Scott said federal and
state tax credits plus income tax allowance are given to people who restore their
barn to commercial use, and if a property qualifies for the National Historic
Registry (meaning it would have to have been built before 1936), a host of other
programs are available to assist landowners with total restoration as an historic
site.
‘‘The cost of restoration is high in some cases as it is mostly up to the individual
barn owner,’’ Scott said. ‘‘Only now we are recognizing that we must, at least,
record these farmsteads, barns, granaries and corn cribs, as they are
disappearing fast. We need to do this for us and the next generations.’’