Cantilever barns in East Tennessee

Photo: Brian Stansberry, Creative Commons. "Cantilever (or "Overhang") barn at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee, USA. This barn was originally located near Seymour, Tennessee. The Appalachian cantilever barn, derived from similar European barn designs, is rarely found in the United States outside the mountains of East Tennessee."

Marian Moffett of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, co-author (with Lawrence Wodehouse) of East Tennessee Cantilever Barns (1993), says in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture Version 2.0:

Documentary evidence on these barns is very scarce. Most seem to have been built from 1870 to about 1915, by second- or third-generation settlers. Cantilever barns were constructed on self-sufficient farms, where accommodations for seed corn, feed, livestock, and equipment were basic needs. The unusual design may derive from German forebay barns in Pennsylvania, built into the hillside with an overhang along the out-facing side. Pioneer blockhouses in East Tennessee and elsewhere had modest overhangs on all four sides of the upper story, and these may have inspired the shape of later barns.

Moffett says, " In studies of mountain buildings made in the early 1960s, Henry Glassie identified these barns as characteristic of the southern highlands, indicating that they were found in North Carolina, Kentucky, and West Virginia." Mostly East Tennessee.

Informative backgrounder on Pennsylvania forebay (Schweitzer) barns on the Schmidt-Dalziel Barn website. "The Pennsylvania Barn stands as an excellent example of acculturation, incorporating the heritage of three nationalities - Swiss, German, and American - into one structure. Its many names - Sweitzer, Swisser, Overshoot, Porch, Forebay, and Bank barn reflect the melting pot of traditions that went into its design." Also summaries of Dutch, English and Swiss barn types. the Schmidt-Dalziel Barn is in Ontario.