Topeka ? Robert Marsh and his wife, Marion, put enough miles on their car last year to drive nearly to Baghdad and back. But the Ottawa couple never left Kansas.

The Marshes toured the state looking for farm buildings to feature in “Barns of Kansas: A Pictorial History,” a book published by The Donning Co. Publishers and sponsored by Kansas Electric Cooperatives Inc.

“We drove 11,000 miles, and we didn’t touch every county,” Robert Marsh said. “We took 1,200 photos.”

Marsh, now retired, is known throughout the state as a structural engineer and architect. He was a partner for 21 years with Appleby & Marsh architectural firm in Wichita and Salina. He is on the Kansas State Historic Sites Board of Review, a board member of the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance, a member of the Vernacular Architecture Forum and past president of the Kansas Preservation Alliance.

So it was little wonder when the publisher was inquiring about possible writers for the book that Marsh’s name would be suggested.

“I got a call from the publishers and they sent me a sample of the other books they had done,” he said. “I discussed it with my wife, and late in 2001, we said we could like to do it. They said they wanted 35,000 words and 300 pictures.”

Kansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. said it would underwrite the project but wanted it done by August 2002, so it could be distributed during the holiday season. The Marshes started compiling a roster of barns from those listed on historical databases or recommended by county extension agents. They also asked for suggestions in advertisements they took out in agriculture/rural life magazines. Armed with their lists and files on each barn, the Marshes hit the road in early February 2002.

“We went to Troy, Baxter Springs, Elkhart and St. Francis,” he said, explaining the area they covered. “Once we got started, people were generous and eager to help us along the way and to help make introductions (to owners of the barns).”

The Marshes planned their trips in three- to four-day segments, always watching the weather for the best possible picture-taking conditions. Marsh used a 35mm film camera, a Rolleiflex camera and a variety of lenses to take his photos.

In the next few months, the Marshes visited about 400 barns, including 13 round or polygonal structures.

While there are a number of interesting barns in Kansas, Marsh said there was one structure that needed the public’s attention: the Warkentine barn in Harvey County.

“This is one barn in the state that I want people to start taking care. It has national landmark status,” he said.

In 1874, Bernard Warkentine — who brought Turkey Red wheat to Kansas — built a mill on the Little Arkansas River near Halstead. A few years later, he built a house, a barn and other buildings east of the mill. The three-gable barn, Marsh said, was built to house Percheron draft horses and Hamiltonian harness and racing horses. It had brick floors, elevators, augers and feed chutes. Some of the equipment was powered by a steam engine in an adjoining building. The barn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and received National Historic Landmark designation in 1990. However, Marsh said, the barn has a gaping hole in its roof.