The list of known historic barns is drawn from the Vermont Historic Sites and Structures Survey begun in the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Included on the list are structures such as houses, farms, churches, stores, railroad stations, bridges, and dams.

Occasionally a barn is the structure of interest in the Survey. More often, a barn is listed - often with the date of construction - as a building "associated" with a house or farm. There are often extensive descriptions of the house or farm, plus photographs and maps. The criteria for inclusion in the Survey were age (over 50 years in 1985, that is, built before 1935) and integrity of location, setting, materials, and workmanship.

Mount Holly found that less than half of the historic barns in its survey were on the state Survey list.

This State Survey list is not comprehensive for a number of reasons:

• Not all barns constructed before 1935 are listed. At least 11 sites with barns built in the 19th century were not on the Mount Holly list.
• Barns built after 1935 are not listed
• Some barns listed have completely disappeared.
• Some barns are hard to locate from the Survey information: buildings have been moved, roads altered, or an error may have been made in the original data entry.

However, the state Survey is a great resource and tracking down each of the barns on the list is rewarding.

Contact for a list of known historic barns in your town.