Brian,
What did the barn do to you? I mean tearing it down is a pretty drastic measure, but unfortunately not an uncommon one.
Seriously though, there are some pretty old barns in that part of the world. I did a presentation at the Michigan Barn Preservation Network Conference last year in Grand Rapids and saw pictures of lots of magnificent old barns. Saw quite a few from the road too, but unfortunately didn't have time to do much barn snooping.
I would suggest going to The Barn Journal on-line website
http://museum.cl.msu.edu/barn and looking for the registration info for the upcoming MBPN conference in March. Lot's of good information to be had there and if you take pictures of your barn, you might find someone to help you fix it up, or someone who could give it a new home. They also have an area on the Barn Journal website to list barns that are looking for new homes.
Historic barns are an important part of American history. I beleive (and preach as you can tell) they should be preserved through good stewardship whenever possible, and new stewards should be found for them when it's not. Of course if the barn has been neglected for generations, it may not have a future, in which case you still may find a contact through MBPN or Barn Journal on-line.
Hope this helps. Feel free to send pictures if you have them. They always help.
Rudy
