"Lost" Rock City Barn on Old U.S. 62 (Ripley Road), Brown County, Ohio.
Canon EOS A2, Canon EOS 70-210mm f4 zoom lens
(Click to enlarge)
U.S. Highway 62 is an interesting, even unique road. Although designated an east-west route, it meanders from its eastern end at the Canadian border at Niagara Falls in northwestern New York, across the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania and into Ohio, where it pursues a mostly southerly course before joining U.S. Highways 52 and 68 near Ripley to share a bridge across the Ohio River. Once in Kentucky, 62 splits from Highway 68, goes a little further south, then trends west and southwest, ultimately, after coursing 2,248 miles through ten states, terminating at the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas.
Did I say U.S. 62 is unique? It is the only U.S. highway that connects Canada and Mexico.
In these days of super highways U.S. 62 is relatively obscure, so it might seem a bit strange that Rock City would have sent its crew to paint the "See Rock City" message on barns along that route. But before the network of interstate highways began to cover the country in the 1960s it was a major thoroughfare, connecting parts of Canada, upstate New York, western Pennsylvania, and eastern Ohio with U.S. Highway 27 at Cynthiana, Kentucky, from whence southbound travelers could go on to Florida (and not coincidentally) through Chattanooga.
On my first official barn photography foray in October, 1994, I went north on U.S. 27 to Cynthiana, and then east on 62 to Mt. Olivet, photographing three barns along the way; none of which was particularly photogenic. I did not revisit Highway 62 until the morning of September 26, 1995, when I crossed a bridge that carried U.S. Highways 52, 62, and 68 over the Ohio River near Ripley, photographed a barn just south of the town, and went looking for a barn on my list that was on an old alignment of U.S. 68. I stopped to ask directions of two farmers standing by a pickup truck.
They didn't know about the barn I was looking for, (I did eventually find it) but one of them said, "Y'know, there's Mr. Eammons' barn over on Ripley Road -- that's old Highway 62 -- it's got some writin' on it."
Mr. Eammons barn turned out to be a compact tobacco barn with a tractor parked inside, and it did indeed have some writin' on it: "See 7 States from Rock City near Chattanooga, TN." Best of all, it was a "lost barn" -- one that had been lost from Rock City's records.
The morning light wasn't right, but I made some photographs for the record, knowing that this barn had great potential if I could come back near sunset.
However, that didn't happen until three weeks later. Early on the morning of October 18, I visited the farm of Clarence Spindler just north of Evansville, in southwestern Indiana, and made thisphoto. Then I got on Interstate 64 and beat feet across southern Indiana and Ohio, arriving just before sunset; just in time to make the photograph you see above. One of my very favorite Rock City barns.
Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts?
(Photograph copyright David B. Jenkins 2020)
Soli Gloria Deo
To the glory of God alone
No comments:
Post a Comment