Gary
Reynolds Studios / Furniture Makers and Designers
Located
in the foothills of western North Carolina since 1979
The first barn I remember as a child belonged to my dad. It stored hay,
farm implements, horses and mules, and an occasional cow. A ladder
provided access to the hay loft where I spent time each winter night shoveling
hay into the racks to feed the animals below. Behind the barn was an area
that always seemed to stay muddy because the horses hooves kept it churned up
with a generous portion of manure mixed with the mud. It was here that the
best fishing worms in the area could be found. The roof of that barn also
served as the center field bleachers at Yankee Stadium and using an old
broomstick, I smashed hundreds of small rocks onto and over it. Off the
side of the barn was a triple but onto the roof was a home run. Someone
set the barn on fire one night and it burned to the ground. The kid that
did it also torched dozens of area barns before he was caught.
One by one, the numerous barns that once stood in this area are beginning to
disappear. Some fall prey to lightning, neglect, or simply get torn down
to make way for houses and roads. Someday soon they will all be
gone. Through these photographs they will not be forgotten.
Most of these barns still stand in Rutherford County, North Carolina.
