"All farms need a barn"

DAYTON-Step inside the cool interior of an old barn on a warm summer day, and as your eyes adjust to the dark interior, and your senses are assailed by the locked-in aroma of hay, livestock, and old timber, present-day focus can easily transport you to the past.

According to County Extension Agent Paul Carter, there could be fifty, or more, barns, of all ages, styles, and conditions, in Columbia County.

Two of the county's older barns are standing taller, and two more will be, soon, thanks to the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Heritage Barn Grant Program. The goal of...