WHY ARE MOST BARNS PAINTED RED?
Prior to the 18th century, most farmers in America didn’t paint their barns at all. The reason farmers starting do this was to fill a functional need rather than for decoration.
Because paint was not readily available in rural areas of the country, most farmers made their own. The paint typically consisted of a mix of skimmed milk, lime, and red iron oxide earth pigments—which had a red tint. This created a plastic like coating that hardened quickly and lasted for years. Linseed oil was subsequently added to the recipe to provide the necessary soaking quality. Mixing the oxide into the paint protected the wood from mold and moss (which caused decay) and also resulted in a deep red color. It so happens that darker colors also absorb more of the Sun’s rays and kept buildings warmer in the wintertime. Thus, the American “barn red” was born.
The ground upon which the barn stood had to have some elevation to facilitate drainage. The slightly higher elevation of the building also meant that an earthen ramp would have to be constructed from the ground to the large barn doors so that livestock could easily be brought in and out of the building. Earthen ramps also made it possible to bring wagons and buggies into the barn.
Farmers would try to position their barns in areas of their property where there was fresh water to feed livestock. They also had to take into consideration the prevailing winds (for ventilation) and in order to keep the barn doors from getting snowed shut in the winter.
The barn is a symbol of the traditional rural values held by American farmers – hard work, pride of place and self-sufficiency. While the design of barns changed over time and varied by region, the very basic design and symmetry was a standard symbol for the farmers of America.
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The barn on the grounds of the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village was donated by Mr. Joseph Hughes and moved to the museum in 1981.
Sources:
Sipp, Shirley Dix. “Beautiful Barns” Allstate Motor Club Magazine (winter 1976-77)
“Barn Portraits” Farm Forum Spring 1990
Doherty, Jim. “A Barn is More Than a Building, It is a Shrine to Our Agrarian Past.”
Klamkin, Charles. Barns: Their History, Preservation and Restoration. Bonanza Books, 1979