The Harnsberger Octagonal Barn, also known the Mt. Meridian Octagonal Barn, is located near

Grottoes, Virginia Grottoes is an incorporated town in Augusta and Rockingham counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 2,668 at the 2010 census. The Rockingham County portion of Grottoes is part of the Harrisonburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, ...

. Built about 1867, the barn is possibly the only example of such a barn in Virginia, as the building style was more popular in the expanding midwestern United States in the immediate post-

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

era than in economically depressed Virginia. The octagonal style was popularized in 1853 by ''A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building'' by

Orson Squire Fowler Orson Squire Fowler (October 11, 1809 – August 18, 1887) was an American phrenologist and lecturer. He also popularized the octagon house in the middle of the nineteenth century. Early life The son of Horace and Martha (Howe) Fowler, he w ...

. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> The barn was built for Robert Samuel Harnsberger in 1867, following the example of his brother Stephen, who had built an octagonal house nearby in 1856. The barn represents an adaptation of the octagonal concept to the site, incorporating elements of traditional

bank barn A bank barn or banked barn is a style of barn noted for its accessibility, at ground level, on two separate levels. Often built into the side of a hill, or bank, both the upper and the lower floors area could be accessed from ground level, one are ...

s. The barn's builders encountered difficulty in assembling and fitting the barn, requiring the assistance of other carpenters. The wood frame barn retains the traditional bank barn functions of a central wagon floor with hay lofts to either side, rather than a functional distinction between each of the sides as suggested by Fowler. As with a bank barn, accommodations for cattle are on the lower level, with the stalls arranged in a line rather than radially. The barn was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 8, 1982.

References

External links

Harnsberger Octagonal Barn, Virginia Route 256, West of Intersection with Virginia Route 865, Grottoes vicinity, Augusta, VA
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS) {{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Barns on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Augusta County, Virginia Infrastructure completed in 1867 Buildings and structures in Augusta County, Virginia Octagon barns in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia 1867 establishments in Virginia Barns in Virginia