.For almost three hundred years, barns were an essential part of most home lots, housing animals, vehicles and farm equipment.  As the automobile replaced horse-drawn transportation and small-scale farming declined, Windsor’s barns began to disappear, falling victim to the weather, disuse and disrepair. 

 

For photographer Lowell Fewster, barns tell an important story about life and commerce in Windsor as well as exhibiting aesthetic beauty.  Barns were practical, functional buildings and close examination of a barn’s architectural features can tell the story of its original and subsequent uses.  Some barns have been re-made and rehabilitated while others have disappeared.  Additional Windsor barns have stories associated with them like the shade tobacco magnate who used the cupola in his barn as an observation deck where he could oversee the working habits of tobacco workers he employed.  Then there was the barn where methane from cow manure was piped into the house to light gas lamps inside.

 

Official history records little about Windsor barns. In an attempt to gather barn reminiscences for the record, viewers are invited to record and post their own Windsor barn stories or reminiscences as part of the exhibition. 

 

Photographer Lowell Fewster grew up in a Kodak family in Rochester, New York, and started taking pictures at the age of six.  Photography remains one of his greatest life joys.  Fewster’s goal with this exhibition is to provide and preserve data through his photographs and notes that will help those in the future looking for information about Windsor barns. 

 

A special 2010 calendar featuring Fewster’s barn photographs will be available for advance purchase at $10.99.