The split rail fence has been used on farms for over a century and is common in what once were wooded areas.
Whether you currently have an antique farm fence or you're trying to create a fence that looks antique, an antique fence can bring a touch of history and a sense of continuity to your farm yard. A number of different styles of fence have been used on farms throughout the years, and styles tend to vary by region. Does this Spark an idea?
Split Rail
Perhaps one of the most common types of antique farming fences, historic split rail fences, were originally made from logs split in halves or quarters to form rails and posts. Posts feature notches where the ends of the rails rest. You can usually find split rail fences in places that were once heavily wooded, like the early frontier states. Today, you can purchase split rail fencing in wood or vinyl at most home improvement stores.
Barbed Wire
As settlers and farmers moved further west, the forests of the east disappeared, and farmers had to come up with an inexpensive way to keep their cattle and other animals on their land. Posts were placed 6 to 8 feet apart, and at least two rows of wire were strung from post to post until the fence was complete. After barbed wire was invented at the end of the 19th century, it replaced standard wire in these fence designs. Barbed wire fences are still commonly used by farmers all over the United States.
Stone
If you find a dry-stone stacked fence somewhere in one of the New England states, don't tear it down. It may be an antique and historic landmark. When early settlers first came to the New England area, they built their fences out of stones stacked on top of one another, the way they had in their homelands. The fences were used to do everything from marking a property line to fencing in animals. Today these short, dry stone-stacked fences are protected as historic landmarks in many states, and you can earn a hefty fine if you tear one down.
Tags: split rail, been used, been used farms, fences were, rail fences
