Blogs

Discover stories, insights, and technical know-how from barn owners, preservationists, and OBP experts dedicated to keeping Ontario’s barns standing tall.

All things Ontario Barns

Barn and Cliff Swallows

by Linda Marie Glass Ward (Barn Swallow Carpenter). In the spring of 2014 my interest in birds gained momentum when my husband and I saw a rare Black-backed Woodpecker in Algonquin Park. The following...

Century-old Film of Early Log Construction

By Jim Campbell, OBP Vice President, Duntroon. Thanks goes to our awesome OBP Administrative Assistant Laura Brown for finding this 1923 silent short film which very nicely illustrates the process...

Barn Owls

by Will Samis, OBP Director, Applehill Farm, Iron Bridge. It’s an old barn to us. but it’s home to them. Less than a handful of bird species are as widely distributed around the world as the Barn Owl...

Barn Records and History

I learned to start snooping around the barns for notes and records and found that they could be in the strangest places. By John Busch, OBP Regional Rep. for Middlesex, Elgin, Chatham-Kent...

The Canada Farmer, 1864

by Diana Macdonald While doing research in The Canada Farmer, a fortnightly news journal printed in Toronto, from 1864 (slowing working my way through each issue), I have found detailed...

The Peace Barn

by Alycin Hayes, Echo Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. I love old barns and wanted to share with you a few photos of my barn located on my organic farm/native wildlife sanctuary. I enjoyed the OBP article on...

A Great Drive to See Log Barns

by Jon Radojkovic Radojkovic, OBP Director I was happy when I saw the first log barn. I had expected to see some but after driving six hours from Grey County towards Renfrew through beautiful, mostly...

Wagon Door Hardware — Strap hinges and Pintles

by Claudia Smith, OBP Secretary By the mid-1800s, Ontario farmers were increasing their grain production and three-bay English barns became...

Haunted Barns! Part 2

PRESENCES INSPIRE PRESERVATION by Peter Roe It has often been noted that ghosts haunt any location where life has existed, be it a house, a hospital, a prison, an asylum, a battleground or a theatre...

Haunted Barns! Part 1

by Richard Palmisano. Nothing defines a farm from any other property then that of the majestic barn. The command-and-control centre for any operating farm, be it, to store, repair or prepare...

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...

Iowa Barn Tour: Part 1 of 2

State of Iowa fall barn 2023 tour This is post 1 of 2 in the series “Iowa Barn Tour” State of Iowa fall barn 2023 tour. Iowa Barn Tour: Part 2 of 2 Iowa Barn Tour: Part 1 of 2 by John Busch, OBP...