Rock City Barns

A dying breed. These are some of the Pictures I have taken of Rock City barns. To see a complete list, I recommend this website.

This one appears to still be maintained by Rock City Painters. On US 127 north of Pikeville, TN

This is Lewis Bruton's Rock City Barn on Highway US 64, the old highway that connects Memphis to Chattanooga. It is in Lawrence County, Tennessee about 5 miles East of the Natchez Trace Parkway, or 9 miles west of Lawrenceburg.

South of Eagleville, TN on US 41A in Rutherford Co.

South of Eagleville, TN in Rutherford Co on US 41A

See Beautiful ROCK CITY. The rest of the wood has been replaced, but you can see the top of the W on the left and some of Wonder on the right. This is on Highway US64, the classic highway that runs from Memphis to Chattanooga. This barn is in Giles County, within a mile from the Lawrence County border.

Along the Clarksville Highway (US41A) in Davidson Co. in the Northwest part of the county.

When The Rock City Painters stopped looking for new barns to paint, they changed their primary advertising to birdhouses. They Painted this barn to look like a "Rock City" birdhouse. This specific barn had been further south in Georgia, but when a church was going to tear it down for more space, the Rock City folks moved this to near the base of Rock City. This is easy to see from the Lover's Leap at Rock City, or if you are driving along the Chattanooga Valley Highway. This is the same field where they have the Enchanted Maize in the Fall.

At one time this barn clearly said "See 7 States from ROCK CITY" but as you can see much of the wood has been replaced. That, and the newer shed on the left have made this less obvious from the road. This barn is one of what used to be many on US Highway 64, the classic highway that runs from Memphis to Chattanooga. This is located in Wayne County, just east of the Hardin County border and a few miles west of Waynesboro. I find it odd how the part of the barn with the letters RO are much more distinct than the rest of the original painted wood.

It may be tough to read now that is red on black, but the words say Take U.S. 41 to Rock City. I guess this technically is not a barn but this was painted by the Rock City Barn Painter. This is an Antique Store on U.S. Highway 231 in Wilson County in the stretch from Lebanon, TN to Murfreesboro. The sign recommends in Murfreesboro that you turn on US41 to get rock city. I think the Red used to be white but rusted and probably was easier to read decades ago when first painted. I am not sure the antique store was open, but there was lots of junk in the yard.

Although this is not a barn, it is part of Rock City's advertising barn program painted by Clark Byers. It's tough to read, but it does say SEE ROCK CITY TAKE US 41. This is in Murfreesboro, TN on US Highway 231 just north of US41. I wonder what this is - those who are more familiar with farm structures might need to inform me. I wonder if at one time, the letters were painted over in accordance with the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, but the covering paint wore off since it wasn't as durable.

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