With barns disappearing in Midwest, a preservation movement rises

For years Pat Huth came home from vacation with photos she'd taken of barns she admired on her journeys, but she never thought to take any of the ones around her home in central Illinois.

"I never realized how pretty the barns are right here around us," Huth said as she drove up a lane toward a 1920s barn.

Huth realized something else about barns in her home state.

"They are a dying breed," she said.

That's why Huth has joined others in Illinois to promote the restoration and preservation of these onetime hubs of farm activity.

Barn preservationists say the iconic symbol of agriculture in the heartland is disappearing at an astounding rate. They estimate that as few as 10% of the barns Illinois had in the 1920s are standing.

The once-essential buildings are crumbling to the pressures of time, weather, modern farming and the expense of keeping them up. Although small, grass-roots organizations are trying to make a difference, they say they need more support within the state to help keep these barns around. They point to Iowa, where grants and state tax credits help the preservation movement.

Since 1997 the volunteer-run Iowa Barn Foundation has given 119 matching grants totaling more than $1 million to Iowans rehabbing barns. Funding comes from donations by individuals, corporations and other foundations.

Barns in Iowa built before 1937 and those listed in or considered for the National Register of Historic Places are eligible for a state tax credit. And barns built before 1937 are eligible for a property tax exemption when they are restored, the foundation said.

But farmers these days struggle with putting the structures to good use. Modern equipment often doesn't fit in the old barns, and fewer farmers have livestock and feed requiring a barn's shelter.

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With barns disappearing in Midwest, a preservation movement rises