Michigan's barns are hardy and humble, personable and persevering.
Whether small or large, ordinary or extraordinary, each barn has served to the best of its ability. Barns were important to lumber barons and mining magnates. They were part of poor farms, state hospitals, prison farms, and Indian boarding schools. They belonged to gentleman farmers and subsistence farmers. They figure into the congregate living of religious sects and communities of Amish and Mennonites. Some are woven into the mission of academic settings. Others have become club houses or storage facilities at golf courses, parks, and arboretums. Some are homes.
Wander now with Jan Corey Arnett, "The Barn Lady," to explore Michigan barns. Learn their history. Know them as the heart of the farm. And understand why they are synonymous with home. Cathedrals to the earth's spirit.