The Preservation of Historic Signs
This story was adapted from Preservation Brief #25, The Preservation of Historic Signs, originally published in 1991 by the Technical Preservation Services office of the U.S. National Park Service. Signs are everywhere. And everywhere they play ... [... more]
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The Preservation of Historic Barns
From the days when Thomas Jefferson envisioned the new republic as anation dependent on citizen farmers for its stability and its freedom, thefamily farm has been a vital image in the American consciousness. As themain structures of farms, barns ... [... more]
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Common types of American barns
The first great barns built in this country were those of the Dutchsettlers of the Hudson, Mohawk, and Schoharie valleys in New York Stateand scattered sections of New Jersey.(2) On the exterior, the most notablefeature of the Dutch barn is the ... [... more]
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How to maintain, preserve or repair older barns
Historic barns are preserved for a number of reasons. Some are so wellbuilt that they remain useful even after a hundred years or more. Manyothers are intimately connected with the families who built them and thesurrounding communities. Others ... [... more]
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Using old barns as housing
The conversion of barns to housing is not new, but has become increasinglypopular in recent years. Yet the changes involved in converting most barnsto housing are so great that such conversions rarely preserve the historiccharacter of the ... [... more]
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Barns: Additional resources
Arthur, Eric and Dudley Witney. The Barn: A Vanishing Landmark in NorthAmerica. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1972. Fitchen, John. The New World Dutch Barn: A Study of Its Characteristics,Its Structural System, and Its Probable ... [... more]
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Barns: Personal Reflections
Having spent many glorious childhood hours in my grandfather's barn on a dairy farm in central Connecticut, this passage almost brings me back there. The barn was all of these things -- big and dark and mysterious -- but never scary. It had a ... [... more]
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Historic Detailing and Replacing Roofs
Replacementof particular historic details is important to the individual historic characterof a roof, such as this rounded butt wood shingle roof. In the restoration, thedrainage around a dormer was improved by the addition of carefully ... [... more]
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Replacing an historic wooden barn roof
National Park Service workersreplace the wooden roof on the Spangler Barn. The historic Spangler Barn in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is a replacement of the earlier Civil War-era barnwhich burned down in the 1890's. Though the barn does not date ... [... more]
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