Traveling down Highway 68, about 10 miles southeast of Crossville, Tenn., it appears after a bend in the road, giving many drivers just enough time to pull over to the side for a quick picture.
"SEE 7 STATES FROM ROCK CITY."
The weather-beaten barn was once part of a fleet of 900 buildings across the country painted by Clark Byers between 1935 and 1969, all bearing a variation of the iconic message that was one of the most ingeniously simple and successful ad campaigns ever created, said Karen Baker, director of marketing for Rock City and Ruby Falls.
"In the '30s, automobiles were big, but there was nothing else on Lookout Mountain, so they had to find a way to get them up the mountain," Baker said.
Byers and Rock City founder Garnet Carter hatched the idea, and Byers started going around to farmers with a heck of a deal. A free paint job in exchange for some free advertising, Baker said.
"It was the Depression. People needed their barns painted and money was scarce, so it was a win-win for both parties," Baker said.
The campaign was very successful, compelling vacationers to stop in Chattanooga to see the natural rock formations atop Lookout Mountain. Baker said the signs achieved a nostalgic, even mythic quality for both visitors and those who simply remembered seeing the signs as kids.
"It's a Southern icon. You'd be amazed at the number of people who say, 'I remember those barns, from when my parents drove us from Ohio to Florida when I was a kid.' They may have just arrived at Rock City as adults, but they usually say, 'I'm so glad we stopped.'"
Over the years, many of the barns have been re-roofed or razed entirely. With just 80 remaining - most of them in the Southeast - R&R Marketing, the marketing arm of Rock City and Ruby Falls, started a campaign to retouch two to three of the signs each year. Baker said most of the barn owners reach out to them because they're interested in preserving history. Elsie Buhaly, the owner of this particular barn, reached out to R&R for that very reason. She and her husband, Albert, bought their 107-acre farm in 1979. She said the barn was a major selling point.
"We saw the barn and fell in love with it," she said. "We climbed up into it and saw the view, saw the lane leading up to where we would build our house."
The sign has faded since it's original coat in 1959 and its most recent touch-up in 2009. The letters now appear maroon from rust and the black background has faded in the sun.
Scott Hoskins, owner of Chattanooga-based H&M Painting, was contracted to do the job, just the way the originals were done - with two gallons of white paint for the letters, four gallons of black for the background, with two coats on each. On Wednesday, despite a few logistical snags navigating the high, sloping roof, Hoskins and his crew got harnessed in and started cranking.
Hoskins, who saw the signs when he was young and always wondered who painted them, felt privileged to be restoring the sign.
"Man, it's an honor," Hoskins said. "It's an icon. I'm glad to be part of it."
Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.