Receiving data from volunteers is vital to the success of the Barn Census!

If you've already participated in the Vermont Barn Census, click on the 'Submit Your Information' link in the right hand column. Adding your information to the database will help us plot the barns you've found on a map, so we can all see the location of Vermont's Historic Barns. Thanks!!!

We're happy to enter the data on your behalf! If you're unable to submit your information over the web, just print out your survey forms, include copies of any photographs you've taken, and send them to:

Vermont Barn Census, c/o Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, National Life Building, Second Floor, Montpelier, Vermont, 05620

Calling All Volunteers!

Fall Barn Census - October 3 to 12, 2009

Vermonters from all corners of the state and all walks of life will fan out across the countryside for the Fall Barn Census October 3 to 12 to document Vermont’s barns in hopes of better preserving them.

Officials with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation are encouraging people in every community to take part in the Vermont Barn Census individually or as part of a group. Using material downloaded from the Vermont Barn Census website volunteers will travel their communities to inventory local barns and other historic agricultural buildings.

“If you have a love for Vermont’s barns and a digital camera, you have all the tools you need,” said Nancy Boone, Acting State Historic Preservation Officer with the Division. “This is a chance to really learn not only about the barns in your area, but how important barns are to our state. And it’s a great way to get outside and enjoy the foliage.”

The state and the University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program have loaded the website with information about the history and architecture of Vermont barns; a worksheet to record information about them; and helpful hints on conducting a survey. Graduate students from UVM in one of Prof. Thomas Visser’s historic preservation courses are also working with communities around the state to support local Barn Census efforts this fall in Richmond, Hinesburg, Huntington, Hartford, Norwich, Dorset, Manchester, Derby, Brownington, Franklin, Isle LaMotte, Grafton, and, Townshend.

In addition to documenting the barns and their condition, “Volunteers will talk to barn owners to learn not only the facts about a barn like its age and past uses, but also the stories that make a barn come alive,” Boone said.

Following the field work, volunteers will send the information in to a central database over the internet. Those without computer access can submit their inventory information on paper forms. “Send us the information in whichever form works for you”, Boone said. “Every entry is important.”

“We’re hoping for a great turnout, with hundreds of barns being added to the Census” Boone said. “We think these volunteers can really make a difference in preserving barns, a vanishing resource that’s so important to Vermont’s identity.”

For more information, visit the Division for Historic Preservation site at: www.historicvermont.org

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

A Project of the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program,
and Historic Windsor’s Preservation Education Institute, Save Vermont Barns,
Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and Preservation Trust of Vermont

This project is funded by a Preserve America Grant through the National Park Service to the State of Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.