Minnesota barns

Minnesota barn types

The following summaries appear in "Historic Context Study of Minnesota Farms, 1820-1960" Granger & Kelly 2005, MNDOT.

Often called feeder barns
Built from about 1890 through the post-World War II period
Tall, fully-enclosed beef barns included storage for hay and feed inside; many had attached silos
One-story semi-open and open barns had openings facing south and east to maximize sunlight but protect from winds
Beef barns often had large openings to allow cattle to move in and out freely
Most beef barns were framed with dimensional lumber, with pole barns becoming popular after World War II
Metal siding became especially popular after World War II

A few dedicated dairy barns were built in Minnesota as early as the 1860s
Most pre-1960 dairy barns were either stall barns or, less often, loose housing barns
Two-story barns are characteristic of cold-climate dairying but were a fire hazard
A few Minnesota dairy barns were one-story before World War II
Most stall barns had two rows of stanchions; facing the cows in or out both had advantages
Loose housing grew after a University of Wisconsin study began in 1941
Round and polygonal barns were more popular in the Midwest than in other areas; an estimated 170-180 were built in Minnesota; about 70-75 were standing in 2001
Field hay balers and choppers became affordable in the early 1940s, as did blowers and mechanical conveyors to move the hay up to the loft
Feed and litter carriers were developed in the 1890s and paddle-type gutter cleaners date from about 1950
Many farmers bought their first milking machines between 1915 and 1925, but they weren’t widespread until after electrification

The most common type of barn historically built on Minnesota farms
Almost always included, at a minimum, housing for dairy cows and horses
Especially associated with the diversification of Minnesota farms, 1880-1960
Sizes ranged from very small two-horse, two-cow buildings to large L-shaped barns

An alternative to storing hay in a haystack or livestock barn
In use by the late 19th century
Threat of fire was a significant reason to build a separate hay barn
Hay barns or sheds could be open, partly-open, or fully-enclosed
Field hay barns were one of few major structures located outside of the farmstead cluster
Field pickup balers were first used in the late 1930s and became widespread in the 1940s

Hogs were usually sheltered farthest from the farmhouse
Hog housing could be either permanent or portable
Permanent houses ranged from simple shelters to barns with central alleys and lofts
By the 1920s portable or “colony” houses were helping control soil-borne diseases
Confinement systems were first used in Minnesota in the 1940s

Horses were the primary source of mechanical power until about 1920, and were used on Minnesota farms until the mid-1950s
In 1930 most Minnesota farms kept five to seven horses
On small farms, horses were kept with dairy cows or in a general purpose barn
Farms with more than 5-6 horses sometimes housed them in a separate horse barn

Barns designed specifically for sheep were not common in Minnesota
Except when lambing, sheep needed little shelter and were often raised with only makeshift winter protection
Sheep barns often resembled beef barns with open sides but with more interior partitions
Two-story barns offered storage for hay and bedding; one-story barns often required a nearby storage structure

Threshing barns were built in Minnesota between the 1850s and the time of farm diversification, which began in the 1870s in Southeastern Minnesota
Most threshing barns were timber frame, three-bay structures with a central drive
After diversification, the three-bay form persisted, often as a raised, three-bay barn
Most threshing barns were built in southeastern Minnesota