Round Barns of Kansas
Round barns were never very plentiful in Kansas, not when compared to neighboring states to the east and north-east. The map below shows all 1645 round barns that were built in the lower 48 states at some point over the last few centuries and illustrates how Kansas was at the periphery of the round barn boom. Following accepted usage the term ”round barn” refers to any structure whose floor plan is not rectangular, with at least five sides (pentagonal). Usually, but not always, the number of sides was even with the octagonal plan favored in the earlier years.
Of the 2256 barns identified in this map, 876 are still extant as of Summer 2025. There is no particular region where the loss of round barns has been greatest and the map of extant barns in the lower 48 states looks much the same as the map of barns built.
In Kansas, a total of at least 89 round barns were built, of which 18 remain in some form or another as shown on the map at the top of this page. Below you find some pictures of these barns arranged in clock-wise order starting in the upper left in the map above. A more complete pictorial overview that includes short descriptions of each barn (as well as different photographs) can be found in a 54-page booklet written by myself and published through Lulu.com.
The original booklet published in 2024 is no longer available. A second edition was published in 2025 and which contains a list of recently discovered barn locations, based on archival newspaper sources.
To order a copy of this book, click the following link.
In 1999 James Shortridge, then Professor of Geography at the University of Kansas, published an inventory of round barns in Kansas. That publication, entitled “The Round Barns of Kansas” was published in Kansas History, Vol 22, No 1, 1999, p. 48-89. This publication can be found here.
The table below lists the 18 remaining round barns in Kansas. According to convention, barns are named after the first owner followed by the name of the current owner. However, since for some of these barns the current owner could not be located, the names as used by James Shortridge in his 1999 survey are used. Following the convention introduced by John Hanou in his 1993 compilation of round barns in Indiana, each barn is assigned a two-part code with the first two digits corresponding to the county (listed in alphabetical order) and the second two digits the sequential number of a barns found in that county. These numbers are preceded by the two-letter state abbreviation. Thus, KS-39-03 is the third barn listed in county nr 39, Harper County, in the state of Kansas (KS).
| ID | County | Name | Built | West | North |
| KS-04-01 | Barber | Brownback-Steinberger (R) | 1914 | -98.765 | 37.018 |
| KS-16-01 | Coffey | Davis (P) | 1909 | -95.666 | 38.169 |
| KS-18-01 | Cowley | Hall-Ward (O) | 1930 | -97.015 | 37.070 |
| KS-24-01 | Edwards | Nebergall (R) | 1917 | -99.404 | 38.075 |
| KS-39-01 | Harper | Thompson-Wohlschlegel (R) | 1912 | -97.968 | 37.276 |
| KS-44-01 | Jefferson | Kay-Elkington (R) | 1910 | -95.278 | 39.215 |
| KS-44-02 | Jefferson | Goepfert (O) | 1920 | -95.370 | 39.077 |
| KS-47-01 | Kearny | Glass-Carlisle (P) | 1908 | -101.255 | 37.939 |
| KS-49-01 | Kiowa | Fromme-Birney (P) | 1912 | -99.509 | 37.527 |
| KS-50-04 | Labette | Nace-Goodwin (P) | 1918 | -95.368 | 37.020 |
| KS-56-01 | Lyon | Walker (O) | 1932 | -96.145 | 38.406 |
| KS-59-01 | Marshall | Drennen-Stump (R) | 1911 | -96.613 | 39.685 |
| KS-59-03 | Marshall | Rowe (R) | 1914 | -96.707 | 39.784 |
| KS-59-05 | Marshall | Floral Hall (O) | 1916 | -96.664 | 39.685 |
| KS-75-01 | Pottawatomie | Fair Pavilion (O) | 1921 | -96.168 | 39.497 |
| KS-78-01 | Reno | Harden (O) | 1905 | -98.031 | 38.123 |
| KS-87-01 | Sedgwick | Foley-Fleming (R) | 1910 | -97.264 | 37.521 |
| KS-89-01 | Shawnee | Whiteman-Kirkwood (O) | 1883 | -95.778 | 39.131 |
Reno County: Harden Octagonal Barn (1905)
Marshall County Fairgrounds: Octagonal Floral Hall (1916)
Marshall County: Rowe Round Barn (1914)
Marshall County: Drennen – Stump Round Barn (1911)
Pottawatomie County Fair: Octagonal Pavillion (1921)
Shawnee County: Whiteman – Kirkwood Octagonal Barn (1883)
Jefferson County: Kay – Elkington Round Barn (1910)
Jefferson County: Goepfert Octagonal Barn (1920)
Lyon County: Walker Octagonal Barn (1932)
Coffey County: Davis 16-sided Barn (1909)
Labette County: Nace – Goodwin 16-sided Barn (1918)
Cowley County: Hall – Ward Octagonal Barn (1930)
Harper County: Thompson – Wohlschlegel Round Barn (1912)
Barber County: Brownback – Steinberger Round Barn (1914)
Kiowa County: Fromme – Birney 16-sided Barn (1912)
Kearny County: Glass – Carlisle 12-sided Barn (1908)
This small barn was built in 1908 just west of the town of Lakin. In 2001 the barn was restored and moved to the Kearny County Museum in Lakin. Because this barn is quite a ways from Lawrence, I have yet to made the trek to Lakin to take photographs of the barn.
The photograph on the left shows the Glass-Carlisle Barn before the move and the lower one shows the barn after the move and restoration. Credit: Kearny County Historical Society.
Edwards County: Nebergall Round Barn (1917)
Despite having survived one or several storms, this true round barn was listed as “poor condition” in the 1999 inventory published by James Shortridge, and has since fallen mostly in disrepair. GoogleEarth imagery from 8/27/2022 shows only the central silo standing amidst a round pile of rubble surrounded by what is left from the walls. Historical imagery on GoogleEarth is somewhat blurry at times, but it appears that the roof collapsed some time before October 2011. Because of this deteriorated condition, and the fact that the barn is located more than a four-hour drive from Lawrence, I have not yet visited the Nebergall Round Barn – or what is left of it.
Sedgwick County: Foley – Fleming Round Barn (1910)
All photographs taken in April and November 2023.