Nearly 100 restored barns will be featured on this month’s statewide tour organized by the Iowa Barn Foundation. The group raises money to preserve the state’s dwindling number of barns. Wayne Frost, a spokesman for the foundation, says all 92 barns on the tour have received Iowa Barn Foundation grants.
Twenty of the barns have never been featured before on one of the group’s tours.
The tour is unique because people can go inside the barns rather than just drive by. Frost says some are working barns.
This is the Iowa Barn Foundation’s 24th fall tour, scheduled for the weekend of September 14th and 15th.
About 200,000 barns have been built in Iowa, but experts estimate only around 60,000 are still standing. The fall tour will include a pair of barns in Hancock County, one just south of Britt and the other near Hayfield. Barns in Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Emmet and Winnebago counties will also be featured. You can find a map of all 92 barns online at www.iowabarnfoundation.org.
