Off and on - mostly off - I have been taking pictures of old barns in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Sometimes we're driving along and I'll see a barn and think it would make a nice picture, but I need clouds in the sky, or a wet road in front, or evening light and it seems like I never get a picture of it. Other times Berlynn will think I am crazy when I stop the car along a busy road and jump out to take a few pictures. Whichever way, I had hoped to one day take a lot of pictures of barns of the Sierras and publish a book. Or maybe at least a pamphlet. But too many other things get in the way, so I'll take pictures when I can and publish them here.
To those of you who have sent me pictures, I enjoy looking at them. But for now, I'm only going to post my own photography here, if you'd like to see your barn pictures on the web - build a page! It's fun!
Why barns? That question is asked a lot, and I've also received criticism that I have this bizarre obsession with these buildings. Actually I am fascinated that a farmer or rancher will put up a barn at considerable expense and then over the next few decades, he won't take care of the building but as you can see from most of these pictures, will allow it to decay. When it falls down, they build a new one, usually right next to it. Certainly they don't treat their house or their tractor this way, so why do their barns get this treatment? As you can see from the pictures, there are a lot of barn in various states of repair, or disrepair, and I think they make interesting photographs.
The pictures below are thumbnails of the larger pictures. Click on the thumbnail to go to the larger one, they will take a little longer to download, but most of them are worth it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| In between Escalon and Oakdale on highway 120, this is not really in the Sierras, but in the Central Valley | Across the country road from the barn on the left, this one is in much better shape and shielded by almond trees. | More a feeding station than a barn, it is just outside of Oakdale on highway 108. | A real barn, about 1/2 mile from the Lodge, it stores all kinds of stuff like a barn should! | The same barn as on the left in a winter snowstorm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| On Yosemite Road just outside of Tuolumne is this barn. | This is the same barn as on the left, but a different month and the new camera with a much better zoom. | Also on Yosemite Road, this one will not survive too many more winters. | An old apple packing shed next to an abandoned rail line on Tuolumne Road about a mile outside of Tuolumne. | Old Wards Ferry Road near Sonora on the way to the Tuolumne River has a couple of nice barns - this is one of them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| This one is also on Wards Ferry Road, it is decorated with colored horseshoes. | The other side of the Sierra's at Benton Hot Springs has several old barns. | This barn is close to a lot of development in Sonora and will probably be razed in the name of progress. | It appears to be in the middle of nowhere and I had to zoom in all the way - off highway 120/108 near Knight's Ferry. | This is what that barn looks like without zooming in. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Along highway 49 outside Angels Camp is this barn. | Two barns on Lime Kiln Road on the way to the golf course in Sonora. | On the outskirts of Oakdale, you can see daylight through its roof | A pole barn, (no walls) outside Escalon - see my adventure with this barn here! | A different view of the pole barn - you can see that it doesn't have any walls. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| This barn is on the road to the Gloryhole Marina on New Melones Reservoir, just off highway 49 near Angels Camp. | It could collapse any day, on Tuolumne Road, near Cover's Apple Ranch. | This barn is along Highway 49 about 20 miles south of Placerville. | Here's a barn on the way to Ironstone winery outside of Murphy's. | Here's a different angle of the same barn on a different day. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Along state highway 120 as you start heading into the foothills is this barn that appears abandoned. | This one is on a gravel road on the way to the Clavey River and was rumored to be used in Little House on the Prairie! | Near the Mariposa Airport on Highway 49. | Just outside of Valley Home in the Central Valley, it looks like it may fall down! | Also near Valley Home these look like brothers! |
|
|
|
|
||
| This is the barn of Cover's Apple Ranch on Cherokee Road in Tuolumne, we've been going here for years, this is the first picture!. | Nowhere near the Sierras, this is at Sunset State Beach near Watsonville. | Not in the Sierra foothills either, this barn is located along state highway 84 on the way to the coast, just outside of La Honda. |