Who doesn’t love an old barn? And, for those of you around Lewis County who find historic barns worthy of your time and attention, New York State has just adopted a 25 percent state tax credit for restoration of barns built before 1945 either to productive use or as places for small businesses such as event spaces, craft breweries, and the like.

Many see historic preservation as a pivotal strategy for rural revitalization – we certainly applaud it here at the Lewis County Historical Society. And with this new Historic Barn Rehabilitation Tax Credit, the State is taking a step to make it more affordable to save beloved old barns from disrepair while exploring new uses in agritourism, arts and culture. Time, of course, will tell, but the State’s incentive may help preserve many an historic old barn across our rural North Country communities.

According to the NYS Preservation League, “the renewal of the barn tax credit will provide a much-needed resource, [for] the historic barns that dot our landscape [not only] provide a tangible link to our state’s agricultural past, but they also represent opportunities to revitalize communities — either through adaptive reuse or reinvestment in agricultural uses.”

Further information and forms are available at: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/credits/historic_barns_credit.htm