This article is from the Extension Connection newsletter, Fall 2005.

Since Gov. Tom Vilsack declared 2005 “The Year of the Barn and the Family Farm,” many organizations, groups and individuals have been finding ways to celebrate this piece of Iowa’s heritage. With help from Iowa State University Extension, some Iowa 4-H’ers are using Iowa’s barns to increase tourism and track local history with technology.

The Barn Quilts of Sac County

Kevin Peyton, a Sac County 4-H’er, initiated the Barn Quilts of Sac County last April.

More than 200 Sac County residents, many of them students and 4-H members, are creating 8-by-8-foot quilt squares to place on barns and corncribs. Students in three 4-H clubs and five Sac County school districts are painting the quilts on plywood. Approximately 20 barn quilts now appear on barns and corncribs throughout the county.

Peyton, a high school senior, entered his exhibit at the county fair, where it was selected to go on to the 2005 Iowa State Fair. He met with Gov. Vilsack and his wife, Christie, in a celebrity judging event at the state fair.

Peyton hopes bus tours and motorists will take the 108-mile drive on the hard surface roads of Sac County to view the barn quilts. Maps currently are available for tourists. Project organizers would like to have a compact disc giving descriptions of the barns, corncribs and other agricultural features of the area available in 2006.

“This project demonstrates the 4-H community working together to achieve a goal,” said Susan Doehrmann, Sac County youth coordinator. “4-H’ers are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills through their participation in the Barn Quilts of Sac County.”

Mapping Barns with GPS

In another barn project in Hardin County, youth mapped historic barns with hand-held Global Positioning Systems (GPS) made available by the ISU Extension Science, Engineering and Technology (E-SET) program. Youth mapped approximately 150 barns in spring 2005. Organizers hope to complete another round of surveying this fall.

Middle and high school students are surveying and photographing the barns to make a book of county barns from the 1960s or earlier. The book, a historic resource inventory, will be completed by the end of 2006. The book will include a survey sheet, a short history of each farmstead and photos. Every barn that is found in Hardin County during the survey period and as many of the ghost barns (barns that have been torn down) as possible will be documented in the historic resource inventory. A copy of the book will be available for reference use from the ISU Extension office in Hardin County and the State Historical Society of Iowa.

Project organizers are considering publishing a coffee table book or calendars featuring photographs of Hardin County barns taken by 4-H and FFA members. All proceeds from the sale of these items would be donated to 4-H and FFA.

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