From billboards to quilt blocks

Decades ago, farm buildings doubled as open-air canvases. In the early 1900s, farmers were paid for the use of their barns as roadside ads to promote tobacco, feed, and grain products. Hundreds of barns on Route 66 beckoned travelers to Missouri's Meramec Caverns. Today, quilt blocks are transforming barns into colorful local landmarks and carving out new trails for rural tourism.