Vintage NYS FingerLakes Red Barn Under Blue Sky Royalty-Free Stock Image

BRACED FRAME CONSTRUCTIONOnce sawn lumber was easily obtainable in the early colonies, most barns were of braced frame construction, which allowed larger and more adaptable structures. Air could circulate through the cracks between the boards. Large doors provided good light. Small barns could be attached horizontally, with shed-roof additions on the sides and back. The town dweller’s barn became large enough to accommodate only the nonfarming home owner’s transportation animals, feed, and equipment: It was the early garage. During the mid-1800s, his barn was built to look like his house, being similarly sided in board-and-batten or clapboard and paint.As more machines were invented to help the farmer increase his yield, the farmer’s barn grew in size and efficiency, too. Simple devices such as trapdoors, hoists, ramps, chutes, and sliding doors were widely employed to move materials through the barn.