Star Decorations
In the southwestern counties of Somerset and Bedford, local carpenters developed a distinctive barn star tradition in which the star was cut from wood and then affixed to the barn gable peak. Several designs have been documented, some with five points and others with a "wagon wheel" of many points. These stars are a unique regional expression in Pennsylvania.
Barn star, Somerset County, c. 1900.
Photo courtesy of Fred Will.
"Star Barn," Dauphin County, 1872
The well-known "Star Barn" between Harrisburg and Lancaster is a one-of-a-kind
"gentleman farmer's" interpretation. The star designs are actually louvered ventilators.
Note
This is a static, archived version of the PHMC Pennsylvania Agricultural History Project website which will not be updated. It is a snapshot of the website with minor modifications as it appeared on August 26, 2015.
Pages in this Section
- Overview
- House Types
- Barn Types
- Barn Features
- Outbuilding Types
- Overview
- Bake Oven
- Butcher House
- Carriage House
- Cider House
- Combination Structure
- Cook House
- Corn Crib
- Dryhouse
- Fruit Cold Storage
- Garage
- Grain Bin
- Granary
- Greenhouse
- Hay Drying Shed
- Hog House
- Horse Barn
- Ice House
- Machine Shed
- Maple Sugar House
- Milk House
- Packing House
- Potato Storage Cellar
- Poultry Housing
- Privy
- Roadside Stand
- Root Cellar
- Scale House
- Shed
- Silo
- Smokehouse
- Spray Shed
- Springhouse
- Summer Kitchen
- Wagon Shed
- Wash House
- Wood Shed
- Worker Housing
- Workshop
- Landscape Elements
- Archaeological Features