Canadian Barn Reference Book List
Contributed by Claudia Smith Secretary OBP
If you are a barn lover who likes reading about old barns – their history, their important place in the Canadian economy over the decades and the fine craftsmanship of their construction – this reference list of Canadian barn books and articles will be invaluable. The list was compiled from the books on the shelves of the barn lovers and advocates on the Board of Ontario Barn Preservation.
There is an expanded list of barn related books by international authors on the OBP website under Resources.

Canadian Barn Reference Book List
Arthur, Eric & D. Whitney. (1972) The Barn, A Vanishing Landmark in North America. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. Hard-covered, 10.5 x 11.75 x 1 inch, 256 pages, mostly black and white photos, with a few colour photos. Considered the “Bible” (1964) of barn books, since written so early and done so well.
Beatty Barn Book, #s 1-30+ (1920’s, 1930’s) Copyright Beatty Bro. Ltd, Fergus, Ontario.
Blake, V.B. & R. Grenhill. (1969) Rural Ontario. Toronto, University of Toronto Press.
Carter, John C. “Barn Raising,” Community Heritage Ontario News (Dec. 2002)
Carter, John C. “Barns: Our Disappearing Heritage,” Cobourg and District Historical Society Review (2002/2003), Vol. 20.
John C. Carter. “Barns: Our Vanishing Rural Heritage: Something to Ponder,” The Heritage Gazette of the Trent Valley, August, 2006, v. 11, #2.
John C. Carter. “Barn Raising, Not Razing: Thoughts on preserving our vanishing rural heritage,” Architectural Conservancy Ontario Acorn (Fall, 2014)
John C. Carter. “Reverence for Our Vanishing Rural Heritage,” Wayback Times, September, 2018, #136.
John C. Carter, “Saving Our Rural Heritage: Some Strategies to Ponder,” Bruce County Historical Society Historical Notes Yearbook Edition, 2014.
Cameron, William. “Great Barns,” Maclean’s, December, 1972. Pages 40-43.
Endersby, Elric & Greenwood, Alexander & Lark, David. (1992) Barn –The Art of a Working Building. Houghton Mifflin Company. A good mix of artistic and technical information – a very comprehensive book about the world’s best loved buildings.
Ennals, Peter M. (1968) “The Development of Barns Types in Southern Ontario During the 19th Century,” M.A. Thesis University of Toronto.
Ennals, Peter M. “Nineteenth-Century Barns in Southern Ontario,” Canadian Geographer, 1972, Vol.16.
Fraser, Hugh W. (2019) Swing Beam Barns of Niagara Stories of 50 Barns Built in Ontario Circa 1819–1884. (2019) St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Published by Hugh W. Fraser. ISBN#: 978-1-77136-800-1. Hard-covered, 10 x 12 x 1 inch, 253 pages, colour photos and schematics, stories with imagined dialogue between barn owners and family/friends about something going on locally when the barns are being built. Barn owners witness and participate in history as it unfolds around them.
Guillet, Edwin C. (1969) Early Life in Upper Canada, Toronto, University of Toronto Press.
Guillet, Edwin C. (1963) The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman, Volumes 1 & 2 Toronto, University of Toronto Press. Reference for helping to understand farm activities and processes which influenced barn structures.
Halsted, Bryon D. “In the Cathedrals of the Fields,” Canadian Heritage, August September 1984.
Hainstock, Bob. (1985) Barns of Western Canada, An illustrated Century, Victoria, B.C., Braemar Books Ltd.
Jones, Robert L. (1977) History of Agriculture in Ontario 1613-1880, Toronto, U. of T. Press. “Great reference book for farm happenings that affected barn building.”
Ladell, John & Monica ‘Inheritance’ Ontario’s Century Farms, Past & Present ISBN1-55002-008-0.
Lush, Laura. Swing Beam: My Father’s story of Life on a farm and the Barns He Loved and Lost, (2013) Toronto, Ontario, Life Rattle Press.
Martin, Brenda. Memories of the Farm. (Farms of North Frontenac- details and photos of 78 barns)
Martin, Virgil. (1988) Changing Landscapes of Southern Ontario, Erin, Ontario, Boston Mills Press.
McIlwraith, Thomas E. Looking for Old Ontario.
Ouellette, Edwin. The Pioneer and Backwoodsman.
Pullin, Martyn G. (2004) Life in the Country: A View From One Hundred Years Ago. Tanner Ritchie Publishing. Hard-covered, 8.5 x 12 x 0.75 inch, 171 pages, a collection of black and white photos taken by Stephen Sylvester Main after 1890, mostly about rural life around Sheffield, Ontario.
Radojkovic, Jon. (2001) Barns of the Queen’s Bush, Port Elgin, Brucedale Press. (Soft-covered, 143 pages, black and white photos and schematics.)
Radojkovic, Jon. (2007) Barn Building: The Golden Age of Barn Construction. The Boston Mills Press. (Hard-covered, 192 pages, colour photos)
Rempel, John I. (1967) Building With Wood And Other Aspects of Nineteenth-Century Building in Central Canada. Toronto. U. of T. Press. (454 pages, black and white photos and schematics, a lot of text.)
Smith, Claudia. (2015) Barns A Reflection of Changing Times, Published by Claudia Smith. ISBN 978-0-9948967-0-4. Features barns of eastern Ontario with a special focus on Lanark County – a comprehensive look at the “heart of the farm,” the structure and uses of barns, complete with barn histories, anecdotes and over 200 new and vintage photographs.
Town of Minto Heritage Association, The Barns of Minto Township, Wellington County, Volume I, Harriston, Kimbal Printing Ltd., 2007, Volume II, Harriston, Kimbal Printing Ltd., 2008
Walton, Cathy Johnston. (2019) Vanishing Barns: Remembering the Gentle Giants through Photographs, Stories, Diaries and Genealogy, Published by Rose Printing
Please let us know if you have a Canadian barn book which is not included above!!!
To all OBP blog readers: If you have not already done so, please support not-for-profit, volunteer-run, Ontario Barn Preservation by becoming a member! Also, if you are in the business of repairing, reconstructing, engineering, designing, etc. old barns, please consider advertising your amazing skills on our Barn Specia-List. If you own an old barn that you would like to offer to someone else, or you are hoping to obtain one for your own project, make use of our Barn Exchange page. If you own an old barn and would like to save it in the virtual world for future old barn lovers, historians and researchers, check out our Your Old Barn Study page. And please send us your own barn story, photos and/or art for submission as a OBP blog posting for the enjoyment and education of all barn lovers! info@ontariobarnpreservation.com