cool barns

Yesterday, my friend and I drove south to Grants Pass, following secondary highways as far as Eugene, before continuing on down the interstate. I took the above photo of a wooden barn seen a bit north of Brownsville (click on image for larger view). I noticed several barns of similar construction in that area. They were quite distinctive, often having a long sloping roof on one side, a high and low row of uniform-sized rectangular windows, and often a projecting roof section over the gable, presumably a spot to affix a windlass for raising hay or some other heavy load into the loft.

I can’t tell you much about these barns – their age or purpose, but perhaps someone reading this will post a comment. One thing I did notice as we drove through that area was the number of sheep farms. There were also a lot of teasel plants — great masses of them growing in the ditches. You can see them as a brown haze around the barn in the above photo. Historically, teasels were grown in areas where there was a woolen industry, as they were used to raise the nap on cloth made of wool. It’s said that the presence of teasels in an area gives you some idea of its agricultural history. Perhaps there’s a long tradition of sheep farming around Brownsville — something I’ll try to check into when I have a bit more time.

From Grants Pass, we’ll be moving on to points south sometime soon.

No Responses to “cool barns”

  1. robin andrea Says:

    That’s a great barn. Roger says that there are two add-ons to the original structure, giving it that unique shape. I can see that. It would be great to see the barn from the other side, to get a better sense of it.

    I recognize that gray sky. It was like that here for days and days, until about 1:00 on Friday. The clouds drifted away, the sky was stunningly blue, the snow-covered mountains were suddenly visible, and the temps shot up to 70F. Whew. It was grand.

  2. pablo Says:

    I don’t suppose you saw my daughter when you passed Eugene, did you?

  3. Laura Says:

    Lovely photo!

  4. bev Says:

    robin – I should have posted a photo of the abandoned house near the barn. You could see where a couple of add-ons had been at one time. Quite neat. Maybe I’ll post the photo either on my blog or in a gallery I’ll set up for this trip. Ah, yes, the weather hasn’t been too cooperative yet, but we’re hoping that will change tomorrow. Glad to hear that you did get some good weather.

    pablo – No! I guess I should have done a little survey before leaving to see who we should stop to see in various parts of Oregon and California! It seems like there are friends and family members all over the place!

    Laura – Thanks!

  5. Dave Says:

    A few years ago my brother and I travelled down the OR coast into northern CA. I hope you get to see some of the redwoods! Oregon is a big agricultural state. I think you can grow almoost anything out there if you stay west of the Cascades! :)

  6. bev Says:

    Hi Dave – I’ve spent time and camped in the redwoods a couple of times on past trips and I just love it there. If the weather cooperates, we intend to do so again. I’ll definitely post photos although you can probably find my ones from last year if you click on the category for California. And yes, Oregon has an amazing agricultural industry, although I just found hydroponic cucumbers from Canada in a store in Grants Pass yesterday!

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