From the glacier-flattened northwest to the Appalachian hills and valleys to the east and south, barns dot the Ohio landscape. Built with wooden nails and mortise-and-tenon joints and assembled with beams hand-hewn from nearby trees, some of these magnificent structures have witnessed three centuries. Many display the unique carpentry of masterful barn builders, including "mystery" wooden spikes and tongue-and-groove two-inch flooring. Sadly, a number of these barns, neglected for years, risk crumbling any day. Join artist and author Robert Kroeger on a trip to each of Ohio's eighty-eight counties to view some of the state's oldest and most historic barns before they're gone.

The history of these gorgeous old bits of roadside Americana comes to life with stunning photographs of these crumbling relics of America's rural past. Featuring Mail Pouch Tobacco barns as well as others painted with old-fashioned advertisements, this book includes a profile of a man who painted hundreds of Mail Pouch Tobacco barns. A nostalgic look at the way America used to advertise and photographs of barn ad memorabilia, this beautiful book is a sure bet to tug at the heartstrings of those who long for a simpler time.- This great, nostalgic title will sell as a gift book to Americana and history buffs during the Holiday Season. Its the perfect present for Grandpa and Grandma.- Most Americans, while on vacation, have seen these barns adorned in advertising slogans along the road. These barns are a piece of American history that is disappearing.- The only book in print covering this topic.About the AuthorWilliam G. Simmonds is a senior graphic designer for a large Northeast Ohio corporation. He graduated from Kent State University in 1975 and makes his home in Chardon, Ohio. He has photographed more than 600 Mail Pouch and other ad barns. By doing so he hopes to preserve the memory of these nostalgic structures for future generations.

Food historian Cynthia Clampitt pens the epic story of what happened when Mesoamerican farmers bred a nondescript grass into a staff of life so prolific, so protean, that it represents nothing less than one of humankind's greatest achievements. Blending history with expert reportage, she traces the disparate threads that have woven corn into the fabric of our diet, politics, economy, science, and cuisine. At the same time she explores its future as a source of energy and the foundation of seemingly limitless green technologies. The result is a bourbon-to-biofuels portrait of the astonishing plant that sustains the world.

A study of three Amish homesteads: one in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, one in Holmes County, Ohio, and one in LaGrange County, Indiana. Scott examines the history and cultural development of a typical Amish house and barn, one in each of the three largest Amish communities in North America. Home is the center of Amish life and most life events:birth, marriage, daily work and play, retirement, and even death happen there. Stephen Scott explores the history and cultural development of three Amish homesteads, each of which has been occupied by the current family of residence for at least four generations. The Stoltzfus Farm of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the Yoder-Miller Farm of Holmes County, Ohio, the Bontrager-Miller Farm of LaGrange County, Indiana. Amish Houses and Barns also includes a photographic essay of typical Amish architecture in each of the three communities. Its numerous anecdotal stories,"Barn Fire," "The Farm Is Strip-Mined," and "Amish Style Graffiti", enhance the human story.

A pictorial tribute to North America's vanishing rural heritage, as seen in the variety, simplicity, and homely beauty of old barns across the continent.