Heritage Barn Trail to open June 19

The Discover Bath Barns Committee, a group formed to preserve and enhance the barns of Bath Township, has announced the opening of the Heritage Barns of Bath Trail on June 19 at 2 p.m. at Western Reserve Playhouse.

All are invited to join the Bath trustees, local dignitaries and barn owners to celebrate this event that brings focus to the agricultural traditions of the area and the barns that are critical to that history.

The trail is a self-drive, 19-mile, circular trail that overlays the existing 39 miles of the Heritage Corridors of Bath Scenic Byway. This byway was designated by the Ohio Department of Transportation in 2000 and is one of 27 in the state. The byway passes through hamlets, traverses streams, weaves along hillsides and offers vistas of farmland dotted with barns across the countryside. The byway connects historical areas such as Ghent, Hammonds Corners, Hale Farm & Village and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and of course features the township barns.

Many of these barns are considered Heritage Barns, 100 years or older, with several listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many barns also lie in a National Register of Historic Places District or fall within the Ohio and Erie Canalway National Heritage Area.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Discover Bath Barn Committee will announce the winner of the quilt square competition. This competition ran between April 1-May 31 and the winner of the competition will have their design transferred to a barn quilt, which will be hung on the outside of the Western Reserve Playhouse barn.

For more information, visit bathtownship.org and click on Discover Bath Barns Committee under “boards and committees” under the government tab. Alternatively, send your contact information to reception@bathtownship.org with the subject line: Discover Bath Barns Heritage Barns of Bath Trail Ribbon Cutting Event. ∞