Group tries to preserve historic Ohio barns

TSteve Stephens

here are few more romantic, evocative sights on the Ohio landscape than an old barn, standing tall against the elements, as the sun sets slowly behind.

The sun can, no doubt, take care of itself. But the historic barns of the Buckeye State are under siege, not just from time and weather, but also from development, urbanization and folks who pay top dollar for old barn timbers, beams and other individual parts.

Fortunately, there’s a group devoted to raising awareness and appreciation of the magnificent old structures. The nonprofit Friends of Ohio Barns promotes the conservation, stewardship and continued use of Ohio barns, sometimes for quite different purposes than their original agricultural roles.

Ric Beck, past president of the organization, lives in one such structure, built as a barn in 1810 in Geauga County and saved, moved and repurposed for use as Beck’s house north of Columbus.

“I’ve always had an admiration for these old structures, how they were built and the people who built them,” Beck said.

Ohio has one of the widest varieties of old barns of any state, Beck said.

Even before Ohio became a state, the territory drew settlers from across the eastern U.S. and Europe, Beck said. The barns they built reflected their own heritage and varied widely in style, he said.

Itinerant timber-framers and builders, some former shipbuilders, also traveled to early Ohio, settling for a