Few People Know The Real Reason Barns In Wisconsin Are Painted Red In Color

If you drive more than a few miles in Wisconsin’s countryside, you’ll probably see one: a red barn. America’s Dairyland has scores of barns, and the majority are a bright and beautiful shade of red. It’s been this way for years and it’s something most people take for granted. But why bright red? Why not sunflower yellow, sky blue, or something earthy, like burnt sienna? Even barns that are drawn with crayons are colored red!

To find the answer to this Wisconsin mystery, you have to go back in time a little. Here's the backstory on the red barns in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s oldest barns were erected by settlers from Europe who cleared the land and established farms, hoping to grow a better life.

While the earliest farmers grew wheat, eventually production faltered and by the late 1800s, the dairy industry became dominant. By the early 1900s, about 90 percent of farms were involved in dairy production and the state became a huge cheese producer.

Red farms dotted the countryside, filled with Holsteins, Jerseys, and Guernseys. In the early days, cows were milked by hand and the herds were very small.

The red barns that housed these operations were built by the Europeans that settled in Wisconsin. They followed an old tradition. Long ago in Europe, wood barns were protected from the elements with linseed oil.

To color those early European barns, farmers added animal blood or ferrous oxide (rust) to the oil. Red barns became a tradition, and eventually paints were developed that had a brighter hue – no animal blood was required!

Red paint was inexpensive, common, and attractive and it became the color of barns everywhere in Wisconsin. A red barn on a Wisconsin hilltop or valley is still a beautiful site and farm buildings today are still often painted red.

Red barns are incredibly photogenic and if you enjoy capturing rural landscapes, they are the perfect subject. And if you take a tour of the countryside, to view these red barns, you might want to also seek out some of the state’s delicious cheese!