About the quilt & barn

Address:

1101 Forman Road, Austinburg Township

Directions:

Interstate 90 to the Route 45 exit; south to Route 45, left onto Route 307, then right(south) on Forman Road.

Sponsors:

Gerald and Marlene Burke

Artist:

Roberta Evans

The quilt:

4×4 feet, “Rolling Pinwheel.

The Barn:

The farm was purchased by William Joseph and Anastasia Burke in 1937. The Burkes had been living in the Detroit, Mich., area prior to moving to Ashtabula County and taking up farming. “It was basically milking a couple of cows, like everybody did back then,” their son, Gerald Burke, says. “They had a truck farm that operated to Cleveland (markets). Finally, Dad sold the herd and got out milking.” Gerald took over the farm when he was in his mid-20s and ran it as a dairy farm. These days, it is a grain farm, with a few head of beef cattle. The Burkes also grow hay and lease some of the land. Gerald Burke is an Austinburg Township trustee. The main barn was built around 1900 and has a block foundation with timber framing above. Metal siding was put on the building in the past decade. Gerald Burke says that the barn was most likely made from two smaller barns that were put together. Cows were milked in this barn until the dairy adopted the free standing stalls, which were added to the farm when Gerald took it over from his parents. Those buildings are incorporated into the main barn along the sides. Gerald says that the barn was “falling apart” when took over the farm. Keeping paint on the siding was always an issue, and he put 1X12-inch siding on it. But as with the original siding, he could not keep paint on it and finally went to red metal siding.