The Appalachian Barn Alliance formed in 2012 to capture– in oral histories, photographs and architectural drawings — the evolution of the Southern Appalachian barn. The barns of the Southern Appalachian farmstead are an iconic symbol of a rural county’s farming lifestyle of harvest and resilience. The initial focus of the ABA is Madison County, North Carolina, north of Asheville along the border with Tennessee, where thousands of barns can be seen across the mountain landscape.
In Madison County there are over 10,000 of these Southern Appalachian-style barns. The ABA has identified from one to fourteen historic barns in each of the eleven townships that our organization is working to document. Researcher Taylor Barnhill spends several hours at a barn to collect specifics on the measurements and materials before compiling that information into the data that is stored for amateur barn lovers and professionals to access for research. That detailed information includes a data sheet, architectural sketches, and scores of pictures of all of the features of each barn as well as additional information when available.
We invite you to explore the agricultural history reflected in Madison County’s barns, through the research results available here. Search for details on historic barns by selecting a township.