Information & history on rear of plaques:
B02 Octagon Barn. Along with the growth of prosperity after the founding of the United States came the bloom of culture and mass education. Heady experiments in technology and art spawned philosophies and techniques which trickled down to the general populace in various forms. The octagon barn was one such innovation. With his newly acquired (although basic) skills in geometry and mathematics, even the average farmer and barn builder could erect a very efficient agricultural shelter. He was living up to fashion standards set by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, whose eight-sided summer house and matching privies wowed the political elites of 1806. Another genuine renaissance man, a phrenologist named Orson Fowler, had championed the "spiritual and healthful" virtues of octagonal space in several very popular books and articles by 1840. His published ideas made him a fortune and reinforced the belief that a barn would be healthier with eight sides. The central three-story vent shaft may have played some small role in improving conditions for livestock also. Iron and steel strapping, along with other new products of the era, found vital uses in these exotic structures as well.

B03 Pennsylvania Dutch Barn. The eye-catching hex symbol, known as "hexafoos" or "witchfoot," is a comman sight on Pennsylvania barns, as well as in other areas settled by Dutch, Swiss, and German immigrants. Evidence indicates that these seemingly frivolous geometric designs have very old cultural roots; some predate the written alphabet. The superstitions surrounding the protection of livestock included many other visual techniques, such as a simple white line around doors and windows, and white trim around the roof (to bar entry to the devil and witches). This Pennsylvania Dutch barn is a typical bank style, built into a slope, with entry on two levels, and second story doors for dropping hay to livestock in the lot below. Many of the present owners of these barns will say (with their fingers crossed behind their backs) that the pretty colored hexes are just for decoration now.

B04 Pennsylvania Stone Barn. 19th Century Stone Barn.A farmer chose stone over wood for his barn only if his pockets were deep enough to pay skilled masons. Later in the 1800's, stone construction would actually become cheaper than wood in many areas because virtually all trees were being converted to charcoal for iron making. Although no safer from fire, (it was the contents that would ignite and burn along with the roof) a stone barn would generally outlast a wood one, and was a mark of prestigue in some communities. Additions in wood commonly found on stone barns indicate increases in prosperity or changes in farm technology over the years. Note the "loophole" vents which flare on the inside to create an outward air flow.

B05 Round Barn. Why round? Superstition had long ago declared that a round shape provided the devil no corner to hide in, and a farmer's common sense dictated that a round structure included the maximum floor space per linear foot of exterior wall, thus the round barn was a natural outgrowth of the spiritual and practical mindset of the 19th century in the United States. Although the roof structure could present a bit more trouble to reect, the extra labor required was offset by savings in material, as well as through other innovations such as iron strapping at tension joints. The more commodious proportions of this barn even allowed the use of clapboard siding, produced by one of the multitude of new water or steam powered sawmills. The same old stone and wood could render more space, but with fewer posts on the threshing floor, and better ventilation through the central shaft. Exciting new floor plans were now possible, although the standard two-level bank barn remained the basis for these designs.

B06 Shaker Barn. The shaker Barn came early in the wave of agricultural and architectural innovation sweeping America during the 19th century, yet the Shaker's traditional belief that the circle was a "perfect" form also influenced the unusual building shape. It was said that a round barn could "keep the devil from hiding in the corners". For it's day, this example was large (90' in diameter), as well as technologically advanced. Inside the 30" thick stone walls, a wagon way encircles the lofty hay mow, while at the very center, and air shaft climbs 55' to the cupola, simultaneously venting the livestock level and lowering temperatures in the hay to reduce risk from spontaneous combustion.

B07 Victorian Barn. This small Victorian barn is modeled after one built in New Jersey in 1850, and reflects the then growing trend toward fanciful ornamentation. The Italianate details here are sparse compared to many residential examples of the period. Note the arched "man door" cut right into one of the large sliding doors, a traditional barn feature with a new-fangled flair.

B08 Star Barn, Middletown, PA. Just off route 283 in Middletown stands one of the last of the great barns built in Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1872 for colonel John Motter by master carpenter Daniel Reichert, the star barn (so named for the louvered stars visible on all four sides) is 110' long, 40' wide at the base, and 65 ' tall at the cupola. This 3 -story bank barn was designed in the Gothic Revival style, but its size outdoes most barns of that type. The Star Barn's immense interior contains three threshing floors, and extra level for storage of grain sheaves of hay, and a stone-vaulted root cellar under the barn approach. The cupola was originally topped with a weathervane punched with hearts and arrows, and inscribed with Motter's name and the date of construction. On the ground floor, two feet of extra height, chamfered joists and ventilator posts, and cross-panelling on the Dutch doors all indicate the Motter made use of this area to show his prize horses, a major source of his income. A local group is now working to reclaim the barn, its land, and its outbuildings for use as an environmental and agricultural education center.

B09 Mailpouch Barn 1999. These first began to dot the rural landscape at the turn of the 20th Century. Bloch Bros. Tobacco Co., the originators of the Mail Pouch brand, realized that small towns and farms provided the prime market for their chewing tobacco. Instead of creating expensive billboards, the company came up with a better idea: why not utilize existing barns to display their advertisements? The deal that Bloch Bros. came up with was really quite simple. Local farmers would get their barns painted for free and in addition could collect their choice of $5 a year or free tobacco products. The red barn pictured here is the rarer color scheme; a blue and yellow design was favored by painters because of the tendency for red barns to fade faster. Mail Pouch ads reached their peak exposure during the 1930's and prospered as an advertising medium until 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Highway Beautification Act that restricted commercial signs within 660 feet of federally funded highways. In 1974 Congress enacted legislation which excluded "landmark signs" with historic artistic significance from the earlier law. Repainting of existing Mail Pouch signs resumed, but the damage had already been done with the destruction of a majority of the original ads. In 1996 the Mial Pouch barn painting program officially ended, when Harley Warrick of Belmont, Ohio, the last Mail Pouch barn painter, hung up his brushes after a 50-year career, during which he painted nearly 30,000 Mail Pouch barns.