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The Owen County Agricultural Heritage Trail pro-ject began in 2009 as a result of the Owen County Vision Project. Our purpose is to document and preserve the rich agricultural history and traditions of farming in Owen County by recording oral histories of our farm families and painting murals on tobacco barns to tell the stories of farming.

Through a grant from the Kentucky Oral History Commission, we interviewed 34 men and women, ranging in ages from early 40s to late 80s.

The second phase of this project is to create a unique tourism opportunity by painting murals on tobac-co barns. Seven of the murals will feature the stages in the production of tobacco to form the “Tobacco Heritage Trail”.

Tobacco was a primary crop for farmers in Owen County from the early 1900s to 2000. Regardless of the size of the farm or the quality of the land, farmers could raise tobacco and make a little money. It was hard work, very labor intensive and done mostly by hand. Families worked together and neighbors helped neighbors. Money from tobacco is what built our communities, schools, and churches. We honor these men, women, and children for their hard work and love of the land.

This brochure contains information about the six completed murals. Additional murals will feature cutting and housing tobacco and bulking, grading and stripping tobacco.

Horsepower

Horsepower Mural is the first on the Tobacco Heritage Trail because it honors the importance of horses in early farming and the wonderful invention of the tractor. Most early farmers owned horses and/or mules that were used in farming. Family members named the horses and they were important members of the farm family. Tractors were a great invention. Mr. W.A. Grisham Jr. recalls that they bought their first tractor in 1944. It was an H Farmall and visitors came every day to see the new equipment.

1. Farm to Table - building on Main Street in downtown Owenton next to the Kentucky American Water office.

2. Horsepower - barn located on US 127 North behind the Subway restaurant and the ceme-tery.

3. Growing Plants & Pulling Plants - barn lo-cated about 10 miles south of Owenton on US Highway 127 South in Monterey.

4. Tobacco Setting - barn located about eight miles north of Owenton on Highway US 127 North.

5. Tobacco Cultivation - barn located about 1 mile on the left after turning onto Hwy 368 from US Hwy 127 near Monterey.

6. To Market - barn located about 4 miles north of Perry Park on Highway 355.

Please use respect when visiting these barn murals. They are on private property and should be viewed from public roads. Always use caution when slowing or stopping near a barn mu-ral.

If you would like to make a donation to help paint future murals, please make your tax deductible check payable to: Owen County His-torical Society-AHT & mail to the attention of Joy Morgan, 515 Wilson Lane, Owenton, KY 40359 . You will receive a statement for tax pur-poses.

Farm to Table

The Farm to Table Mural deviates from the tobacco production story. This mural features a collage of what makes Owen County such a special place. In its prominent location on Main Street in downtown Ow-enton, it serves as a lovely welcome to Owen County. It highlights the “Farm to Table” theme and showcases the many fruits, vegetables and flowers grown in our county as well as wine that is produced here. You’ll notice the dairy barn and cows, tractor & wagon loaded with hay, sheep, lovely rolling hills and the country church. Look closely to find the heart hidden some-where in the mural because, after all, Owen County is in the heart of the Golden Triangle comprised of the large urban areas of Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington.

Honoring Our Heritage Murals

Growing Plants

& Pulling Plants

Growing Plants & Pulling Plants Mural is number two in the production of tobacco. It fea-tures three framed images: Burning Plant Beds, Pulling Tobacco Plants and Float Beds.

Burning plant beds was done in the spring to pre-pare the beds to sow the tobacco seeds that would grow into plants.

Pulling plants was a job dreaded by most farm workers. It required sitting on a narrow board across the plant bed to pull the plants that would be set. It was hot, back breaking work. Plant beds were covered with canvas to protect the plants.

Float beds began in the late 1990s. It is growing plants in a greenhouse in plastic trays that float on water. Plants are transported in the trays to the field for planting. It is considered an improvement over pulling plants.

Tobacco Setting Mural is number three in the process and features four vignettes showing the progression of setting tobacco:

“Setting by the season” by placing the plant in the ground with your fingers or wooden peg.

“Setting with hand-held jobber” required two peo-ple; one to operate the jobber and one to place the plant in the jobber.

“Horse drawn setter” was much improved but short on comfort as the setters were dragged along the ground.

“Setting with the tractor” which is still done today usually with four or more setters instead of two. The barn owner remembers working with her fa-ther using the hand held jobber thus the reason for a teenage girl in the second vignette.

Tobacco Setting

To Market Mural is the final step in the tobacco production process and is certainly the day all farm families worked toward. This mural fea-tures the Tobacco Market in the glory days of the 1950s when farmers would take their stripped to-bacco to market and watch it sell. It features five framed images - Unloading, Packing, Weighing, Sell-ing and Pay-Day. Farmers took great pride in their tobacco crops and made sure the tobacco was packed neatly on the tobacco baskets. This was the time when they would be paid for the many long hours and hard work they had done all year. This Pay-Day would ensure they could pay their creditors, pay their tithes to church and have money for Christmas. Mr. Jerry Stafford owned tobacco warehouses and he stated in his interview, "he tried to make sure farmers were taken care of because the farmers were the cream of the crop. They were great people." Mrs. Elizabeth Prewitt recalled in her interview that when she was a child, going to the tobacco market was a family event. Her mother would dress Elizabeth in her best dress, coat, and white high-top shoes. She said, "at the market, they would sit me on top of the basket of hand-tied tobacco and I'd sit there smiling as the graders came along."

To Market

This project would not be possible without the vol-unteer efforts of committee members: Harold Mal-comb, Freida Smith, Elizabeth Prewitt, Judy Hetterman, and Joy Morgan. Special thanks to the Owen County Historical Society for serving as our 501(c)(3) sponsoring entity enabling all donations to be tax deductible. Our thanks to the Kentucky Historical Society-Kentucky Oral History Com-mission for providing the equipment for the oral history project.

Many thanks to Red & Becky Shryock; Johnny & Pat Craigmyle; Jobston & Joann Threet, Earl & Dorothy Floyd Bruce & Faye True, and Randy & Kasey Towles the owners who donated the use of their barns and building. Thanks to local businesses, organizations and individuals whose finan-cial support make these murals possible: Owen County Soil Conservation District; Owen County Cooperative Extension; Owen County Chamber of Commerce; Owen County Farm Bureau; Itron; Kentucky American Water; Owen Electric; Eagle RC & D; Southern States-Owenton; Earl Floyd Ford;

Tobacco Cultivation

Tobacco Cultivation Mural is number four in the production process and is presented in three pan-els. The first panel shows plowing/cultivating with a horse-drawn plow in the early days and a tractor in more recent times. This is done when the tobacco plants are small. Fertilize is added to stimulate growth. Notice the man carrying the backpack sprayers, an early method of applying fertilize. The middle panel shows a family “chopping out” tobacco which means chopping and removing the weeds. This was a job most children and adults dreaded. The third panel shows a man “topping” tobacco. This is done by walking through the field of tobacco and using your hands to remove the flowers from the top of each plant. The Hi-Boy sprayer was a grand invention and has saved farmers a lot of time. It is a machine that is driven through the field. It has long arms on each side that sprays the tobacco with a substance that prevents suckers from growing. The word “Irrigate” appears in this frame. Irrigation systems allow farmers to pipe water to the field. This is very important during the hot, dry summer months. Many farmers told us that moving irrigation pipes is a terrible job.

Golden Triangle Realty; Kentucky Utilities; Farm Credit Service; Bowling Insurance; State Farm Insurance; Peo-ples Bank; First Farmers Bank; Harper Oil; Serenity Woods Cottage; Owen County Rotary Club; Dave Jones; Helen Bourne; Larry & Sherry Ayres; Delbert & Carolyn Keith; Melody Bourne; Glen & Joyce Dunavent; Peggie Rollins; Joan & Terry Kincaid; David & Mary Marlow; Sharon Lombardo; Owen County Tourism Commission; Owen County Women’s Club; Owenton Retail Con-sulting; Clothing Center; Teresa Swigert and our anony-mous donors.