Tucker barn

I've always loved old barns, in any shape or size (or condition). It's sad that this piece of our history is vanishing, and and because of this, I spend a fair amount of time take photographs of barns when I come across them. I was thrilled when my sister told me about Washington's Heritage Barn project. The barn on their small farm on Vashon Island, built c. 1910, was accepted into the registry in round one of this project to identify and help preserve barns in Washington state..

My sister has collected photos and paintings of their unique barn. I think this is a fairly early photo of the barn with an open run-in shed to the left, and before the milking building was added:

The scene in this painting looks similar to the barn of today. Somewhere along the line, the shed was enclosed, and a large milking building was added.

The Green River valley was once full of barns: dairy barns, hay barns, horse barns, hop barns. Most of them are gone now. Dave and I used to take drives through the valley just to photograph the barns, and we especially loved the hop barns. There's still a small barn of this type, with a center tower) in Fall City if you're interested. It's across the river from town; just cross the bridge and head toward Duvall, and you'll see it on the left.

If you're curious about the heritage barn project in Washington State and want to learn more, you can check it out here:  http://www.dahp.wa.gov/heritage-barn-register

The site has links to various publications, including an annual report of the barns accepted into the registry. The Round One document probably has the most barns listed, along with photos, and is fascinating to read: http://www.dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/RoundOneBarns.pdf

This document has photos of different barns, rooflines, and outbuildings, sort of a key to help you identify different types of barns:   http://www.dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/HeritageBarnRegister_Types.pdf