New Hampshire Barn Trail

The New Hampshire Barn Trail is a collection of historic barns across the state—places that reflect generations of farming, craftsmanship, and community life. These barns are meaningful pieces of New Hampshire’s heritage, and visiting them provides an enjoyable way to experience the landscapes and traditions that have shaped rural life. Many sites welcome families with museums, farm stands, walking paths, and seasonal activities, making each stop both unique and fun.

The trail was created to support local tourism, strengthen community connections, and offer educational experiences for visitors of all ages. UNH Extension and its statewide partners designed the NH Barn Trail to help people learn about barn architecture, agricultural history, and the ongoing role these structures play in New Hampshire communities. Whether you’re visiting a working farm, a restored community space, or a small museum, each barn contributes to the state’s quality of life by offering a place to learn, explore, and appreciate New Hampshire’s rural character.

Note to barn owners: If you would like your barn to be considered for inclusion on the NH Barn Trail, we welcome hearing from you. The NH Barn Trail highlights historic, architecturally significant, and well‑preserved barns across the state, and we are always interested in learning about potential additions. Please reach out with your barn’s location, a brief description, and any available high-resolution photos or historical details. Inquiries and questions may be sent to community.development@unh.edu.

Visit the NH Barn Trail StoryMap

Before visiting, be sure to check each site’s website for information about hours and current activities. For full barn information and photos, click the StoryMap link above.

Great North Woods

Maynesboro and Thompson Barns (Berlin & Coos County Historical Society), Berlin, NH www.bernlinnhhistoricalsociety.org
These two barns provide tangible links to Berlin’s past as home of the Brown Company paper mill, and William Robinson Brown’s renowned horse breeding operations. Today, the barns are operated as a museum, ensuring that the public can continue to learn and benefit from the preservation of these historic agricultural structures.

Pioneer Farm, Columbia, NH www.columbianh.org/the-pioneer-farm/
Included in the National Register of Historic Places, the property features a horse barn and a dairy barn. The Wallace family has lived on the farm and served as its stewards since the late eighteenth century.

The Poore Farm Historic Homestead and Museum, Stewartstown, NH www.poorefarm.org
The Poore Farm features three barns, all of which were constructed in the first half of the 19th century. The main barn includes a high drive accessed by a rare covered wooden ramp.

White Mountains

Douglas A. Philbrook Red Barn Museum, Gorham, NH www.mt-washington.com/amenities/
Sitting at the base of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, the museum features an engaging collection of carriages, coaches, antique vehicles, and associated artifacts relating to the history of the auto road.

Trickey Barn (Jackson Public Library), Jackson, NH www.jackson-nh.gov/uncategorized/the-jackson-grammar-school-and-tricky-barn 
Now repurposed as a public library, the Trickey Barn is a classic example of a New England style barn. Moved from its original location and formed by the joining of two separate barns, it is believed to have been erected by the same carpenters who built the Jackson Covered Bridge. 

Remick Country Doctor Museum, Tamworth, NH www.remickmuseum.org/
The nearly 100-acre museum property includes two homes, three barns, and several outbuildings, and was farmed by six generations of Remicks beginning in 1790. The museum offers scenic grounds for learning about rural life and history. 

The Rocks Carriage Barn and Pig Barn, Bethlehem, NH www.forestsociety.org/the-rocks
A highlight of this NH Forest Society property is an 1884 carriage barn, which has been restored and adapted to serve visitors and staff. The grounds feature a variety of historic buildings, trails, and a Christmas tree farm.

Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee

Cleveland Barns at Colby Sawyer College (Susan Colgate Cleveland Library/Learning Center), New London, NH www.colby-sawyer.edu/
This college library is composed of two New England style barns oriented perpendicularly to each other, each framed with heavy timbers, anchored onto stone foundations, and adorned with cupolas.   

Church Family Cow Barn (Enfield Shaker Museum), Enfield, NH www.shakermuseum.org/discover/village-walking-tour/cow-barn
This barn is one of a group of Shaker agricultural buildings known as Great Barns. Constructed in Shaker communities between the 1820s and 1880s, such barns were designed for maximum efficiency while working with large dairy herds. Today, these barns represent the significance of agriculture to the Shaker lifestyle and culture.

Lyme Historians’ Barn, Lyme, NH www.lymehistorians.wordpress.com
Erected circa 1820, this barn was most likely moved from another location, although it is not known where or when. At this site, the barn’s original owner was Judge David Carrol Churchill, a lawyer, general store shopkeeper, deputy sheriff, county judge, and Grafton County Commissioner.

Muster Field Farm Museum, North Sutton, NH www.musterfieldfarm.com
This barn is a rare example of the transition from the English style of barn construction to the New England or “Yankee” style. Muster Field Farm offers exhibits, special events, and a farm stand for visitors to enjoy. 

New London Historical Society Historical Village, New London, NH www.newlondonhistoricalsociety.org
The New London Historical Society oversees a Historical Village with two barns on site, the Griffin Barn (an English-style horse barn) and the Phillips Barn (a New England-style barn).                

Washington Historical Society Barn, Washington, NH www.wnhhs.org/museums/
This Yankee-style barn dates back to the 1850s, a time period considered to be the heyday of New Hampshire agriculture. The barn and adjacent museum are open to visitors seasonally.

Lakes Region

Hobbs/Leavitt Barn (Gilmanton Year-Round Library), Gilmanton, NH www.gyrla.org/
Originally built in North Hampton, the Hobbs/Leavitt Barn was disassembled and moved to Gilmanton in the early 2000s. It has since been re-purposed as a public library, making the historic building visible and accessible for all to enjoy.

New Hampshire Farm Museum, Milton, NH www.nhfarmmuseum.org/
On the National Register of Historic Places, this scenic working farm and museum depicts the evolution of local agriculture and industry. The property includes the adjacent Jones and Plummer farms, their houses and barns, and numerous outbuildings such as a blacksmith shop, cobbler shoppe, and cider press. 

Quimby Barn (Sandwich Historical Society), Center Sandwich, NH www.sandwichhistorical.org/
This Yankee-style barn offers a museum as well as tours of the main level and carriage house. It is free to visit and is home to a collection of antique carriages and features photographic and interpretive displays of early modes of transportation.

Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center, Laconia, NH www.prescottfarm.org/
Prescott Farm’s 1883 barn is nestled within a 160-acre hillside location, affording beautiful views of the surrounding fields and nearby mountains. Today, visitors can enjoy gardens, nature trails, and a variety of public educational programs on site.

Surowiec Farm Barn, Sanbornton, NH www.surowiecfarm.com/
Perched atop a scenic hill in the Lakes Region, Surowiec Farm provides a classic New England farm setting for visitors to enjoy, with seasonal offerings including a greenhouse, farm store, and pick-your-own fruits and berries.  

Monadnock Region

Franklin Pierce Barn Hillsborough, NH www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/franklin-pierce-homestead-historic-site
The Franklin Pierce Homestead Historic Site is the childhood home of the 14th president of the United States. Franklin’s father, Benjamin, bought the farm in 1802. Visitors may enjoy the grounds as well as indoors exhibits.

Seacoast Region

Drake Barn (Hubbingtons Furniture) North Hampton, NH www.hubbingtons.com
Included in the National Register of Historic Places, the Drake Barn provides an example of the attached “big house, little house, back house, barn” farmstead, which were common in the 19th century. Visitors today can appreciate the details of its original construction, which were preserved through its conversion to a retail setting.

Hobbs Barn (Throwback Brewery) North Hampton, NH www.throwbackbrewery.com/about/hobbsfarm
Now a brewery and eatery, the Hobbs Barn provides a compelling example of how a historic agricultural structure can be repurposed and modernized for a new use, while retaining much of its original appearance and materials.

Leavitt Barn (Hampton Historical Society) Hampton, NH www.hamptonhistoricalsociety.org
The Leavitt Barn is home to the Hampton Historical Society’s Tuck Museum and offers special exhibits and displays for visitors, as well as a beautiful 18th Century herb garden that demonstrates historical gardening techniques.

Raynes-Wiggins Barn Exeter, NH www.exeternh.gov/cc/raynes-farm-stewardship-committee-cc-subcommittee
The massive Raynes-Wiggin Barn is part of a beautiful property that is open to the public for hiking, bird watching, and enjoying grasslands, woods, and river frontage. Much of the land is still farmed today.

Merrimack Valley

Beech Hill Farm, Hopkinton, NH www.beechhillfarm.com/
This award-winning farm has been in the Kimball family for 9 generations. It is a family-friendly destination with numerous activities and offerings, including ice cream and corn mazes.

Broad Barn at NH Audubon Massabesic Center, Auburn, NH www.nhaudubon.org/center-and-events/massabesic-center-auburn/
Massabesic Center occupies the site of the historic Brown Farm and offers educational programs on nature and the environment to youth and adults. Walking trails meander through gardens, grasslands, woods, and wetlands and connect with a larger trail network in the Massabesic Lake watershed. 

Countrybrook Farms, Hudson, NH www.countrybrookfarms.com
Country Brook Farms sits on historic farmland once known as Kashulines Farm, a 1906 dairy and produce operation. Its 250‑year‑old barn now anchors a family‑run garden center established in 1997, offering a wide selection of plants, trees, shrubs, bulk mulch and soil, hardscaping materials, and gardening supplies. 

Gould Hill Farm, Contoocook, NH www.gouldhillfarm.com
Gould Hill Farm has been in operation continuously since the mid-1700s. The location boasts outstanding views of the White Mountains and Lakes Region. Today, the farm is also home to Contoocook Cider Company, as well as a farm store and bakery that offers a variety of foods and goods for purchase.

Lawrence Barn Community Center, Hollis, NH www.hollisnh.org/1512/Lawrence-Barn-Community-Center
At this unique site, several old barns from different time periods were dismantled and combined into one structure, now used for community events.

Parmenter Barn (Londonderry Historical Society), Londonderry, NH www.londonderryhistory.org/parmenter-barn
Built in 1859, it was the last barn in Londonderry to be built at a community barn raising, according to the Londonderry Historical Society. The barn was moved to its current location, where it was reconstructed over time.

Robert Frost Barn, Derry, NH www.robertfrostfarm.org
Four-time Nobel Prize-winning poet Robert Frost and his family lived at this historic site from 1900 to 1909. While living here, he farmed, taught at Pinkerton Academy and wrote much of the work that would eventually be published in his first three books. 

Sandown Red Barn, Sandown, NH www.sandown.us
Managed by Sandown Conservation Commission, this English-style post and beam barn showcases a variety of interesting and representative architectural details.

Collaboration and Acknowledgements: 
The NH Barn Trail project was founded and developed by the NH Barn Committee, in a collaboration between the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, the NH Division of Historical Resources, the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food, and the NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development.  

Logo design: Vince Paratore, vinceparatore.com
Barn guidance and expertise: John Porter, Beverly Thomas, and the NH Historic Agricultural Structures Advisory Committee (NH Barn Committee)
UNH student researcher: Ryan Cutting
Funding and support: Champions of New Hampshire Farms, Granite State Dairy Promotion, UNH Extension Community Engaged Internship Program
Story Map development: Rebecca Levy, Jada Lindblom, Patricia Prescott