photo #7867987

Cantilever Barn The majority of these barns built in the United States were built in Western NC, Southwest VA, East KY and East TN by Scots, Irish, Swedish and German settlers. There are a few others similar to these scattered around the country. These barns were usually built in areas with rocky soil which was hard to dig with primitive tools. These barns date back to the late 1700s. This particular barn was built on the same plans as the earlier cantilever barns in the area but was built c1994 and is located in Howards Quarter, TN The entire barn was built on top of the ground. The crib legs each have a rock foundation that sits on top of the ground. These legs were used to store grains and silage to feed animals with and some of the cribs were built larger to house calves, pigs and poultry. The overhang areas between and outside of the cribs were used for parking wagons etc or for run ins for livestock. The loft areas were large and used to store hay and hang tobacco for drying. Some of the loft areas were used as housing for farm workers and tenants.