Ken Block displays one of his barn photographs that will be on display Aug. 1 at the Francis Creative Arts Center.

The mid-90’s found well-known local photographers Jake Forbes and Ken Block roaming the back roads of the upper Ohio Valley photographing unique old barns. Their efforts produced an exhibit called “Barns of the Past”, which was first unveiled at West Virginia Northern Community College and later became part of a traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Forbes recounted the duo’s adventures in his weekly column in the Wetzel Chronicle, including their encounter with Swami Bhaktipada of the Hari Krishna commune, hidden in a remote corner of Littleton, where he was under house arrest while awaiting a trial for murder.

Jake Forbes died in 2006. Many of the magnificent structures captured on film have disappeared from the landscape.

During the month of August, “Barns of the Past” will be on display at the Francis Creative Arts Center, Washington Street and Maple Avenue in New Martinsville. The exhibit will be available for viewing from 2-4 p.m. Aug. 1 and every Thursday during the Coffeehouse series.

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