MMU Richmond Barn Survey
MAPS!
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 (All maps may be clicked for links to larger images)
Map 1: United States Showing Vermont

This map shows the location of the state of Vermont in the United States of America. The school crew wanted to orient the public to where we are located on the big United States map.  This map is the start of the journey we took over a three week period. Throughout this journey we went to most of the barns in Town of Richmond. Richmond, Vermont, has a lot of history behind it.  The barns tell part of this historic story. The barns hold a lot of significance because they are typically the oldest structure on a plot of land and can tell a story through the features they portray. We are making this website to unleash the past to be able to restore the future.

(Click map for a larger image)


(Click map for a larger image)
 Map 2: Vermont Showing Chittenden County
This is a map showing all the counties in Vermont. The main focus of this particular map would be to show where Chittenden County is located. The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps is in the town of Richmond and Mount Mansfield Union high school is in the town of Jericho.  There are nineteen municipalities in Chittenden County.  Chittenden County is one of 14 total counties in Vermont. Chittenden County, however, is the biggest and most populated county.  In the 2000 census report, it stated that Chittenden County had one fourth of Vermont’s residents in it. 
Map 3: Chittenden County Showing The Town Of Richmond

This map shows the town of Richmond in relation to Chittenden county. The Winooski River runs east to west through Richmond and into Lake Champlain. Another river that borders Richmond in the south east corner is the Huntington River. There were many small farms in Richmond. Alger Alonzo, one land owner, owned sixteen cows on one hundred acres of land. Richmond’s first business district was in Fays Corners. Now the business district is in the center of downtown Richmond. In the 1800’s Richmond was mostly a business town with farms on the outskirts of town. Today Richmond is a small rural town.  All the interns that are working on this project live in or around Richmond. All of the barns we made waypoints for on the GPS units were located in Richmond.
(Click map for a larger image)


(Click map for a larger image)
Map 4: Locations Of Our Schools

This map shows the location of our home base school as well as our vocational school, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.  Mount Mansfield Union High school is located in Jericho, Vermont, and has about one thousand students. Mount Mansfield Union High School is a high school for regular teens.  MMU has a new partnership with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps to provide a work based learning program, where learning happens through community based projects with real outcomes.  Mount Mansfield UnionHigh School is committed to ensuring that all students meet learning standards that encompass academic, civic and social expectations.  The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps gives the students a chance to go out and do environmental hands-on projects instead of traditional based learning.  The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps is located in Richmond, Vermont, which is eight miles away from Mount MansfieldUnion High School.

The West Monitor Barn was built in 1903 and then was restored and made into the home of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps in 2005.  There is also an East Monitor barn which is old and broken down.  The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps just purchased this property and will most likely restore this barn to add more headquarters space to their organization.
Map 5: Locations Where We Performed Research
One of the days we had to do research at various locations to document the history of barns.  This map shows the three areas we used for information on our barn assignment.   The Vermont Historic Society Library in Barre, Vermont, had photographs of Vermont barns, old maps of farms in the region, and old personal history documents. We also were looking into doing research at the University of Vermont Special Collections Library in Burlington, Vermont, but we were unable to make a day out of the information they had there. The Vermont Division of Historic Preservation provided us with technology and the software to do the research. Additionally, the division of Historic Preservation sponsored us to do the project. If it were not for the two full days of them showing us how to use the software, we would not have been able to do this job. Even though this person is not on the map we owe a lot to Bradley Materick, the VYCC's Land Stewardship Specialist, who helped us use the software and taught us how to make and design the maps such as this one.

Ultimately, doing the research and gathering information, we were able to get a good understanding of the barns and the history behind them.
(Click map for a larger image)


(Click map for a larger image)
 Map 6: Barn Locations In Richmond
Several days during this unit our school group went around and located barns within the Richmond town limits. Here is a map that shows all the barns in Richmond. All the barns within the Richmond town limits were different in many ways. All of the barns have different structural features.  Some of those features included a cupola, a gable roof, silos, siding and molding, a truss, and high drives. All the barns that we looked at were in different conditions.  Some have been maintained and well kept, while other barns looked as if they would fall over if you were to touch them. Our group would love to see some of these barns get restored, so that they can show more about Richmond history.  While we were out looking at the barns we stopped and took a picture of the barn and also zoomed in on the special features that the barn had to offer.  Also while we were out taking photos, we used the GPS equipment to make a waypoint at each of the barns so we could put the points into a map.
Map 7: Extent Of Glacial Lake Vermont

This map shows the relationship of the barns and what used to be Lake Vermont. Lake Vermont was a glacial lake created by a glacier that stopped all water flow in the Winooski river valley. Eighty percent of the barns were built where Lake Vermont once used to reside. We have come to the conclusion that this did not happen by accident. They were placed there for a reason. While the lake stood here it brought sediments with it and those sediments fell to the ground and created very rich soil. As you can see the barns are placed in locations where the sediment would help the farmers with their crop production.
(Click map for a larger image)

(Click map for a larger image)
Map 8: Barns With Prime Agricultural Soils
This map shows the locations of all the areas where there is prime soil. This map also shows where all the barns are located in Richmond, Vermont so that you can see the overlap of barns and prime soil plots.  Prime soil is soil that is fertile, meaning it has lots of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in it. Fertile soil is soil that is well drained and has a range of microorganisms that support plant growth. It’s good to have good fertile soil especially in Vermont because of the short growing season.  The barns and the prime soil plots overlap because the farmers research the soil before building a barn.  Farmers always look for prime soil so they can grow good crops and also have lots of fields filled with healthy green grass for their animals to graze on. 
Map 9: Barns With Water And Wetlands
This map shows barns with water and wet lands. A lot of barns are located along the Winooski River. As you can see, most of the barns are next to not on the wetlands. It is important for a farm to have water near by, so that the farm can have good hydration.  Farms need water for their crops and animals to stay healthy and to be profitable.   Having this free resource of water was key for a farmer to survive.
(Click map for a larger image)

(Click map for a larger image)
Map 10: Land Use In Richmond, Vermont
This map also shows the barns in Richmond Vermont. The map also shows what the land is being used for around the barns. Vermont Youth Conservation Corps went around Richmond and looked for barns. This helped us, and anyone else who would want to see where they are from the maps we made. It would also show them what the land is being used for in certain spots in Richmond. The map highlights many kinds of areas: barren lands, broad leaf forest, coniferous forests, forested wetlands, hay, rotation and permanent pasture, mixed coniferous-broadleaf forest, non-forested wetland, other agricultural land, residential land, row crops, and water.