Barns of Williamson County

Barns are one of the most imposing and enduring features on the landscape. The center of farming activity, they provide shelter for livestock and storage for hay and other grains. Sometimes shadowy places and larger than farm houses, barns are where equipment and tools are stored as well as all kinds of items, including discarded tables, chairs, and anything that might be useful another day.

As farming declined in Williamson County in the late twentieth century, many barns disappeared from the landscape. Others succumbed to storms and fires. Many, however, are in use today or continue to stand as reminders of the agricultural basis and the contributions of farmers. Consider sharing photographs of barns, any type and any age, with the Williamson County Historical Society for a book on the barns of Williamson County to be published later this year.

The book will be compiled by Rick Warwick, Williamson County Historian, and Caneta Skelley Hankins, author of Barns of Tennessee. From your submission and other sources, they will select photographs and add historic references as well as information on the style and use of barns in the context of the county’s agricultural history.

This is your chance to be part of this important publication, so send good and clear photographs, old or current, of barns in any condition accompanied by the form below. Because of cost considerations, we regret that not every submission can be included in the book and some color photos may appear in black and white. Your submission, however, will add to an invaluable 2019 survey of barns of Williamson County for future research and publications.

Each photograph must be accompanied by a completed entry form. Make photocopies or scan as needed. Entries must be received by the Williamson County Historical Society no later than May 31, 2019.