University of Wisconsin Dairy Barn, Madison

The University of Wisconsin Dairy Barn is a landmark of agricultural innovation and dairy science at University of Wisconsin–Madison’s historic agriculture campus. Erected in 1897–1898, this barn was designed in a French provincial style by architect J.T.W. Jennings, featuring decorative brickwork, half-timbering, and a prominent silo tower reminiscent of Normandy farm buildings. The barn complex originally consisted of interconnected livestock sheds, a classroom and stock-judging arena, milk and litter sheds-all purpose-built to support early dairy education and research.

The Dairy Barn is most celebrated for hosting the single-grain experiment from 1907 to 1911, led by chemist Stephen Babcock. This pioneering study-testing the effects of feeding cows only one type of grain-upended prevailing nutritional ideas and laid the groundwork for modern vitamin and mineral sciences. Beyond this landmark research, the barn served as a teaching space for selective breeding, artificial insemination, disease testing, and other cornerstone advancements in dairy health and production-establishing University of Wisconsin as a leader in agricultural sciences.

Recognized for its historical and scientific significance, the Dairy Barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005-becoming the first barn in the United States to receive that honor. Today, it remains a functional part of the university’s campus architecture and a tangible reflection of the university’s identity as the flagship institution of “America’s Dairyland.”