Barn Committee
The Barn Committee is a group dedicated to preserving the history of barns in Carlton County. Their stories deserve to be remembered. So far, more than 300 barns have been photographed and their histories collected.
Support this project by purchasing the 2025 Barns of Carlton County calendar, available now in many businesses in Carlton County and here at the CCHS building. 2024 and older calendars are available upon request.
A flash drive slideshow with barn and farm photos, many taken by professional photographer Bob Bomier, is also available.
Interested in barns? Join the barn committee! There are always positions for those interested in researching the barns and properties as well as taking photos.
Looking to restore a barn? Check out Telenko Barn Restoration! Click here for a link to their Facebook page
3739 Main St. Barnum MN. 55707
call Murl Jones at 218-221-1860 or email murljones96@gmail.com
Barn Calendar Locations
Our Barns Are Our History
The 6th annual barn calendar should be at the top of your gift list. Still only $10! Purchase at the CCHS building, right here on this page, or in these Carlton County businesses:
Cloquet: B&B Market, Cloquet Natural Foods Store, Pine Knot News
Esko: Widdes Feed and Farm Supply
Mahtowa: TJ’s Market
Moose Lake: Joe Jitters, Lakeside Traders, Moose Lake Implement, Moose Lake Feed Store.
Wrenshall: Wrenshall General Store
A little bit of history!
Six years ago, Howie Wilkes began researching local barns and spoke
with then-director Rachael Martin about starting a committee to continue his project
throughout the county. Since farming and agriculture played such a large role in the
development of Carlton County it seemed a worthwhile project to undertake. Rachael also
had contact with the Aitkin County Historical Society, which had done the same and published
a book of barn photographs. An ad hoc Barn Photo Committee of volunteers was organized in
October 2015 with a stated mission of creating a photographic record of the barns in Carlton
County. Ed Kavanaugh and Gunilla Jansson attended that first meeting and are still currently
on the committee. The first calendar was published for the year 2017. The committee has
since grown to several people traveling throughout the county looking for and photographing
barns and other agricultural structures. Darlene Seelos is the coordinator of the project
committee. Many barns have not yet been photographed, especially in the southern
townships – Holyoke, Moose Lake, Silver, Split Rock, Clear Creek, Skelton. If you have a barn
in Carlton County that we have not photographed, please contact the museum to let us know.
We also welcome volunteers to help us gather histories of the barns and farms for our
archives, as well as take photos.
Meanwhile, we are gathering photos for the next calendar.