The pictures below are of the only round barn still standing in New Jersey. It has been abandoned for sometime and because of that the structure of the barn is pretty much unfixable, and sooner than later the barn will probably collapse and another New Jersey landmark will be gone. The history of the “Round Barn” in general dates all the way back to the late 1800’s. Round barns began popping up in numerous in the United States throughout 1889-1936. Most round barns were built entirely of wood (like the one I have pictured) but some barns were also made of field stone and material of that nature. All round barns featured a distinct wooden silo, which was built first and then the rest of the barn was built up around the silo. The work needed to build round barns was phenomenal. All the boards and planks had to be cut different and much of the wood had to be soaked in order for it to be bent into circles. But the reason round barns were built was because they were more economical. All the live stock could be arranged in a circle in the middle of the barn, and all the waste pushed toward the center of the barn, this could not be done in the conventional square barn. But because of the extensive labor needed to build these round barn structures, the idea was soon abandoned and people went back to the conventional less labor demanding square barns.
Today through out the United States there are only a few round barns still standing, as most have been abandoned and reclaimed by nature. The few round barns still standing are usually owned by Historical Societies, that are working on preserving them, to save a piece of our nations agricultural history. Sadly this is not the case with the Oxford NJ Round Barn. The years of abandonment have caused the structure to become quite unsound and the hole barn has shifted a good 25-30 degrees. The roof has caved in and many of the floors have rotted off. It would be nearly impossible and cost to much money to fix the barn, all it will take is one big storm and the Oxford round barn will be nothing but a pile of wood.