Rock City Barn II is a photograph by Debra and Dave Vanderlaan which was uploaded on November 9th, 2015.
Title
Rock City Barn II
Artist
Debra and Dave Vanderlaan
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
"Rock City Barn II"
by Debra and Dave Vanderlaan
... One of the famous
See Rock City barns,
found along a back country road
in northern Georgia...
These barns are iconic,
painted for advertisements
of the famous tourist attraction
called Rock City. Autumn colors
decorate the leaves in the trees
surrounding the old barn
and the grasses in the fields
are tinged in reds and oranges.
There were hundreds
of these barns in the Smoky
Mountains of Appalachia,
roofs painted to advertise
the famous Rock City.
Since 1935, they have stood
as genuine highway Americana, their bold white-on-black signs compelling both snowbirds and Sunday drivers to a spot near Chattanooga, Tennessee, where they could “See Rock City”.
But the Rock City barns that once dotted the map from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico are disappearing, bowing to time’s decay or being replaced by other marketing mediums.
In 2005, Rock City marked the 70th anniversary since the barns first appeared as advertising icons, fewer than 100 remain out of a rural network that once numbered near 900. Clark Byers painted the barns for three decades and became a legend in his own right by braving bulls, slippery roofs and lightning bolts. When he retired in 1969, he had painted some 900 barns in 19 states. He died in 2004. His successor, Jerry Cannon, has handled the brushwork on the barns that Rock City still maintains.
Uploaded
November 9th, 2015
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Comments (6)
Debra and Dave Vanderlaan
Jesse, thank you for your Feature of Rock City Barn II in our group Forward Exposure! Celebrate life, Debra and Dave
Debra and Dave Vanderlaan
John, thank you for your Feature of Rock City Barn II in our group Images That Excite You! Celebrate life, Debra and Dave
John Bailey
Congratulations on being featured in the Fine Art America Group "Images That Excite You!"