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Jack Powers | profile | all galleries >> West Virginia >> Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns in West Virginia tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns in West Virginia

From Wikipedia: "A Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn ... [has] one or more sides painted from 1890 to 1992, in advertisement for the West Virginia Mail Pouch chewing tobacco company, ... based in Wheeling, West Virginia. These barns can be found in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and California. ... although an increasing number have fallen into dilapidation or have been demolished. ...Some of the barns are now listed as National Historic Landmarks.

"After World War II, many of the barns were painted by Harley Warrick of Belmont County, Ohio. He once estimated that he had painted 20,000 barns in his life, spending an average of six hours on each. [snip] In 1992, the owner of Mail Pouch Tobacco at the time, decided to suspend the use of barn advertisements when Warrick retired."

In 2003, I thought I'd better take photos of the ones I'd seen in West Virginia before they faded away. All of these barns are located on WV Route 50. I traveled Rt. 50 from the eastern border of West Virginia to Clarksburg, WV. As you can see there are 8 barns left.
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2341-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2341-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2359-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2359-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2383-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2383-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2389-2393_HDR2 Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2389-2393_HDR2 Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2447-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2447-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2473-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2473-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2490-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2490-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2530-Web8x10.jpg
Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn DSCN2530-Web8x10.jpg
Sutton Theatre in Davis, WV DSC_3339 5x7dpi300_resize.jpg
Sutton Theatre in Davis, WV DSC_3339 5x7dpi300_resize.jpg