Preservation of more than 200 historic area barns, dating from the early 1800s, is the focus of a campaign by Long Grove author and photographer Nancy Burgess. Last year she founded the Save-A-Barn program to promote awareness and raise funds for preservation. Recently she talked about the historical significance of Lake County’s barns and future activities of Save-A-Barn, including a June 13 fundraiser.
Q. Where are there barns in Lake County now?
A. Wadsworth has a great deal, as do Fox Lake, Volo, Fremont Center and Wauconda. Some of them are gigantic and measure 220 feet by 50 feet and are two stories (30 feet) tall. A lot of barns were added onto as their (owners’) holdings grew. So, frequently, there is a barn within a barn.
Q. Why is it important to save older barns?
A. One hundred and fifty years ago everyone was a farmer here in Lake County. The agrarian nature of Lake County is being replaced with concrete and fertilized lawns. Barns remind us of our history.
Q. What does the opposition say?
A. They don’t want the hassle. It’s an insurance issue too. Communities set their building codes to modern buildings. So the cost of rehabilitating old barns to bring them up to modern codes is prohibitive.
Q. What is Save-A-Barn doing?
A. We are trying to raise money to provide grants to barn owners to allow them to pay for necessary repairs. So far, we have three activities launched. A local roofer has agreed to donate its time to fix a barn roof in Barrington. We’re looking for donations of materials. On June 13, we will have a classic car show and silent auction at that site from 6 to 9 p.m. (For details, call 847-913-9464.)
We also are selling a poster with six Lake County barns. The Liberty Prairie Foundation, a Lake County historic preservation society, underwrote expenses. We plan to publish a book in the fall with photographs of Lake County barns.
We’ve devised an eight-week program in which the children from an inner-city elementary school will come to Lake County on Saturdays and see different barns each week. On April 26, we had a pilot project at a barn in Barrington that worked very well.
Q. How did you become interested in them?
A. In March 1997 I was doing photography for the 1998 Long Grove calendar, when I saw an old barn and thought it would make a good calendar theme. Each barn has a unique history in its design and function, its own scent and sound. They have their own personality and spirit.
One barn in Lake Zurich had a bottle stuck in a wall. Inside was a note, dated 1908, describing the price paid for the wood and who built the barn. At the end of the note was printed “Best regards to the one whoever reads this.” When I read that, it sent chills down my spine.
Q. Is Lake County the only area where there are organized efforts to save barns?
A. No. In McHenry and Kane Counties, there are projects. There is a statewide Barn-Again program operated by the Illinois Historical Society.
