From horses to tobacco to bourbon, the barn is at the heart of Kentucky’s heritage and industry and is a staple of the Bluegrass landscape. In Kentucky Barns: Agricultural Heritage of the Bluegrass, Carol Peachee showcases the barns with exquisite photography. From elegant Thoroughbred farms to historical treasures like the 1803 stone barn of Runnymede Farm in Bourbon County, Peachee travels across the state to capture and preserve the diverse architecture, heritage, and design that make these structures special. A beautiful tribute to the legacy of the Bluegrass State, Kentucky Barns features nearly 400 full-color photos of both the interior and exterior of these beautiful and functional icons of American culture and industry.

For centuries before Europeans came to the New World, tobacco had an important role in the religious and social life of the early peoples of Kentucky. W.F. Axton describes the various forms in which tobacco has been used, its quick adoption by the Old World, and its gradual development into the forms common today, especially the blended cigarette. Little has been written about the place occupied by Burley leaf in the economic life of the Commonwealth, where tobacco is still the most important crop. Tobacco in Kentucky is accompanied by charts and maps illustrating the many aspects of tobacco production.

Once iconic American symbols, tobacco farms are gradually disappearing. It is difficult for many people to lament the loss of a crop that has come to symbolize addiction, disease, and corporate deception; yet, in Kentucky, the plant has played an important role in economic development and prosperity. Burley tobacco -- a light, air-cured variety used in cigarette production -- has long been the Commonwealth's largest cash crop and an important aspect of regional identity, along with bourbon, bluegrass music, and Thoroughbred horses. In Burley: Kentucky Tobacco in a New Century, Ann K. Ferrell investigates the rapidly transforming process of raising and selling tobacco by chronicling her conversations with the farmers who know the crop best. She demonstrates that although the 2004 "buyout" ending the federal tobacco program is commonly perceived to be the most significant change that growers have had to negotiate, it is, in reality, only one new factor among many. Burley reveals the tangible and intangible challenges tobacco farmers face today, from the logistics of cultivation to the growing stigma against the crop. Ferrell uses ethnography, archival research, and rhetorical analysis to tell the complex story of burley tobacco production in twenty-first-century Kentucky. Not only does she give a voice to the farmers who persevere in this embattled industry, but she also sheds light on their futures, contesting the widely held assumption that they can easily replace the crop by diversifying their operations with alternative crops. As tobacco fades from both the physical and economic landscapes, this nuanced volume documents and explores the culture and practices of burley production today.

Originally published in 1995, Barns of the Midwest is a masterful example of material cultural history. It arrived at a critical moment for the agricultural landscape. The 1980s were marked by farm foreclosures, rural bank failures, the continued rise of industrialized agriculture, and severe floods and droughts. These waves of disaster hastened the erosion of the idea of a pastoral Heartland knit together with small farms and rural values. And it wasn’t just an idea that was eroded; material artifacts such as the iconic Midwestern barn were also rapidly wearing away. It was against this background that editors Noble and Wilhelm gathered noted experts in history and architecture to write on the nature and meaning of Midwestern barns, explaining why certain barns were built as they were, what types of barns appeared where, and what their functions were. Featuring a new introduction by Timothy G. Anderson, Barns of the Midwest is the definitive work on this ubiquitous but little studied architectural symbol of a region and its history.

From horses to tobacco to bourbon, the barn is at the heart of Kentucky's heritage and industry and is a staple of the Bluegrass landscape. In Kentucky Barns: Agricultural Heritage of the Bluegrass, Carol Peachee showcases the barns with exquisite photography. From elegant Thoroughbred farms to historical treasures like the 1803 stone barn of Runnymede Farm in Bourbon County, Peachee travels across the state to capture and preserve the diverse architecture, heritage, and design that make these structures special. A beautiful tribute to the legacy of the Bluegrass State, Kentucky Barns features nearly 400 full-color photos of both the interior and exterior of these beautiful and functional icons of American culture and industry.