Shelburne Museum Round Barn
Encyclopedia
The Round Barn serves as a gallery space for special exhibitions at Shelburne Museum
in Shelburne, Vermont
.
. Round barn
s enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Shakers
designed and built the first round barn in America in 1826 in Hancock, Massachusetts
. The publication of the building’s plans in a nationally distributed farm journal in 1896, sparked the construction of approximately twenty-four comparable barns in Vermont beginning in 1899.
Economy of labor was the fundamental aim of a round barn’s design. Feed chutes connecting the upper and middle levels allowed for easy distribution of hay, stored in the spacious loft, and silage
, stored in the central silo
. Farmers could stanchion
up to sixty cows around the center silo for feeding and milking and easily remove manure through trap doors that opened to the basement below where it could be collected and removed by horse-drawn wagons.
In 1985 and 1986 the Shelburne Museum
relocated the Round Barn to the Museum grounds. A helicopter flew the upper segment of the silo, which weighs nine thousand pounds, from Passumpsic to Shelburne, while workmen dismantled the remainder of the building piece-by-piece and transported it on flatbed trucks to Museum grounds. After reconstruction, new materials replaced what had aged beyond use.
While the roof of the barn was being replaced in April 2009, workers noted the signature of a painter, John Morency, on the silo.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
in Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
History
Fred “Silo” Quimbly constructed the Round Barn, a three-story building measuring eighty feet in diameter, in 1901 in East Passumpsic, VermontVermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Round barn
Round barn
A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880–1920 represent the height of round barn construction. Round barn...
s enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Shakers
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
designed and built the first round barn in America in 1826 in Hancock, Massachusetts
Hancock, Massachusetts
Hancock is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 717 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. The publication of the building’s plans in a nationally distributed farm journal in 1896, sparked the construction of approximately twenty-four comparable barns in Vermont beginning in 1899.
Economy of labor was the fundamental aim of a round barn’s design. Feed chutes connecting the upper and middle levels allowed for easy distribution of hay, stored in the spacious loft, and silage
Silage
Silage is fermented, high-moisture fodder that can be fed to ruminants or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters. It is fermented and stored in a process called ensiling or silaging, and is usually made from grass crops, including corn , sorghum or other cereals, using the entire...
, stored in the central silo
Silo
A silo is a structure for storing bulk materials.Silo may also refer to:* Silo , a 3D modeling software* Silo , a defunct chain of retail electronics stores* SILO , used in Linux...
. Farmers could stanchion
Stanchion
A stanchion is an upright bar or post, often providing support for some other object.* An architectural term applied to the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horizontal irons to steady the leadlight. A stanchion is an upright bar or post, often...
up to sixty cows around the center silo for feeding and milking and easily remove manure through trap doors that opened to the basement below where it could be collected and removed by horse-drawn wagons.
In 1985 and 1986 the Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
relocated the Round Barn to the Museum grounds. A helicopter flew the upper segment of the silo, which weighs nine thousand pounds, from Passumpsic to Shelburne, while workmen dismantled the remainder of the building piece-by-piece and transported it on flatbed trucks to Museum grounds. After reconstruction, new materials replaced what had aged beyond use.
While the roof of the barn was being replaced in April 2009, workers noted the signature of a painter, John Morency, on the silo.