Eighteen byre and bluff barns in Doniphan County, built between 1860 and 1933, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These distinctive barns reflect the people who settled this scenic part of the state after the county was established in 1855 and its population grew quickly following the Civil War. New settlers from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Germany brought with them techniques for raising milk cows and cattle and for barn building, and these traditions combined with the hilly topography of the glacial hills area to produce the byre and bluff barn design. The byres were full basements built into an earth bank or bluff, often with limestone foundations embedded in the earth, which sheltered the basement level from the elements and provided warmth in winter and cooler temperatures in summer for livestock. The second story often accommodated draft animals, tools, and implements, with a hay loft above. J.D. Walters of the Kansas State Agricultural College called this style an all-purpose barn for the Kansas farmer. Styles and materials changed over time, with board and batten construction and louvered vents typical in the 1870s and 1880s, and large structures with gambrel roofs characteristic from the 1910s through 1930s. Although sturdy and versatile, these barns were expensive and required skilled craftsmanship, making them relatively uncommon. The Godfrey Nuzum Barn, built around 1890 for a Virginia native who settled here in 1855, is a one-story limestone and German lap-sided mixed-use barn built into an embankment. Some of these historic barns remain in use, including the Nicolas Bohr Barn as part of the homestead and the T.L. White Barn for cattle, while others are used for storage or are in various states of disrepair. Built into a slope, they provide access to both levels, allowing a farmer to drive a wagon of hay directly to the top and unload, though this approach became less useful as loose hay was replaced by bales and then industrial-sized bales.