West Virginia barns come in many shapes, sizes, and styles, and they tell the story of the state’s early settlers. The oldest barns, built during the frontier days, reflect the ethnic backgrounds of the people who built them—primarily Germans, English, and Scotch-Irish.

There are three main types of old barns in West Virginia:

• Double-crib log barns (made from logs)

• German bank barns (built into hillsides with multiple levels)

• English barns (simple rectangular shapes)

As settlers moved west, barns became more varied in style and used new materials like concrete, brick, metal, and glass instead of wood and stone.

Barns were built for specific jobs—like storing hay, housing animals, or drying tobacco—so their shape depended on their purpose. Today, many old barns are no longer used for farming, but they remain symbols of rural West Virginia life.