Mon, Aug 09
|Washington Town Hall or Via Zoom
WHS Annual Business Meeting / History of Agriculture as Told by Barns
A 30-minute WHS Business Meeting will be followed by a NH Humanities presentation, The History of Agriculture as Told by Barns, by Author and Historian John Porter. An RSVP is not required to attend, but your response allows us to send you an event reminder and updates.
Time & Location
Aug 09, 2021, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Washington Town Hall or Via Zoom, 7 Halfmoon Pond Rd, Washington, NH 03280, USA
About the Event
Physical Location: Upper Hall, Washington Town Hall
Click here for the Zoom viewing option.
Members Meeting
WHS Annual Meeting: 6:30pm
A 30-minute WHS business meeting will be held for the presentation of annual reports and the election of officers and boardmembers for 2021-2022.
The History of Agriculture as Told by Barns
Presenter: John C. Porter
Presentation: 7:00pm
Barns can tell us a great deal about the history of agriculture in New Hampshire. In the colonial period, New Hampshire was a rural, agrarian state and small subsistence farms dotted the landscape. An important part of these farmsteads was the barn, which housed animals and stored crops. Early barns used traditional building methods and followed the English barn style, with a low pitched roof and doors under the eaves. As time went on, the farms expanded to accommodate changes in agriculture. This presentation will follow the progression of barn styles that evolved to handle the increased productivity required to meet the needs of a growing population and respond to changes in society caused by the railroad and the Industrial Revolution. John C. Porter, author of Preserving Old Barns: Preventing the Loss of a Valuable Resource, will demonstrate how these majestic barn structures represent Yankee ingenuity, hard work, and skilled craftsmanship, as well as providing a link to our past that adds to the state's scenic beauty.
John Porter was raised on a dairy farm in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. Degree in Animal Science, and then went on to get a master's degree from Cornell University in Animal Nutrition and Farm Management. In 2005, he earned a master's degree in Education Administration from Bob Jones University. He served as a Dairy Specialist for the UNH Cooperative Extension from 1974 until his retirement in 2006. He still works part-time for UNH, specializing in structures and farmstead planning. In 2001, he co-authored the book Preserving Old Barns; in 2007, he was editor and contributing author of "The History and Economics of the New Hampshire Dairy Industry"; in 2011 was a contributing author of Crosscurrents of Change, an updated history of Concord, NH; and in 2019 he is publishing the new edition of Preserving Old Barns.