At the heart of Ashtabula County’s Barn Quilt Trail is a celebration of our county’s great agricultural heritage and the farm families who have worked so hard to feed our nation.

For example, did you know that in 1849, Ashtabula County led the state in cheese production. Our cows and dozens of little cheese factories turned out about 25 percent to of the cheese made that year.

We also made a lot of butter here. There was a time the butter from Ohio was so bad it was called “Ohio grease.” But the farmers, fair board and agriculturalists at the state level worked together to raise the quality of our product.

Barns and silos are all we have left of those days when small farms, 10 to 30 milking cows, provided their contribution to the county’s fame. The Barn Quilt Trail Steering Committee is committed to saving these heritage barns by offering grants of up to $500 per barn for new, 8-by-8-foot barn quilts. Steering committee members will soon be fanning out across the county in search of these barns and talking to owners. We want to add at least a dozen heritage barns to our trail this year. Will you help by nominating a barn? Simply send us an email and we’ll make the contact.