Barns of Wisconsin (Revised Edition)

Jerry Apps

Aug 2013 · Wisconsin Historical Society

About this ebook

In this new edition of his classic book, award-winning author Jerry Apps shares a unique perspective on the great barns of rural Wisconsin. Digging deep as both an enthusiast and a farmer, Apps reaps a story of change: from the earliest pioneer structures to the low steel buildings of modern dairy farms, barns have adapted to meet the needs of each generation. They’ve housed wheat, tobacco, potatoes, and dairy cows, and they display the optimism, ingenuity, hard work, and practicality of the people who tend land and livestock. Featuring more than 100 stunning full-color photographs by Steve Apps, plus dozens of historic images, Barns of Wisconsin illuminates a vanishing way of life. The book explores myriad barn designs—from rectangular to round, from gable roof to gambrel, from fieldstone to wood—always with an eye to the history and craftsmanship of the Norwegians, Germans, Swiss, Finns, and others who built and used them. Barns of Wisconsin captures both the iconic and the unique, including historic and noteworthy barns, and discusses the disappearance of barns from our landscape and preservation efforts to save these important symbols of American agriculture.

About the author

Jerry Apps is professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the author of many books on rural history and country life, including Old Farm: A History and Horse-Drawn Days: A Century of Farming with Horses. Jerry was born and raised on a small farm in Waushara County, Wisconsin, where he spent countless hours working in the barn, milking and feeding cows, helping to store hay in the haymow, and appreciating the barn’s importance to the life of a farm.

Steve Apps is an award-winning photojournalist with twenty-five years in the newspaper industry. As a Wisconsin State Journal staff photographer he has covered a wide range of assignments including the Green Bay Packers and University of Wisconsin–Madison sports. In 2008 he received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s prestigious Dave Boss Award of Excellence; his photo “First Down” was selected as Photograph of the Year for the 2007 season. In his off-time Steve loves to travel the state documenting Wisconsin and all its beauty, including farmsteads and barns.