Sandusky County celebrates latest stop on painted barn trail

WOODVILLE - The Sandusky County Convention and Visitors Bureau is celebrating the latest stop on its Painted Barn Trail, as officials unveiled a tribute to NASA astronaut and hometown hero Tom Henricks.

Members of Henricks' family and county officials gathered outside Scott Nuhfer's barn on U.S. 20 Tuesday afternoon to view Henricks' image.

Barn artist Scott Hagan painted the image on the barn, which Nuhfer said had been in his family since at least the late 1800s.

"To watch him paint it was mesmerizing," Nuhfer, a lifelong Woodville resident, said.

After the Ohio Turnpike Commission and Ohio History Connection painted a barn on the Ohio Turnpike with the portrait of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Visitors Bureau decided to build a "barn trail" with paintings highlighting local history on barns with high visibility.

MORE: New mural to mark Turnpike milestone

The CVB hired Hagan to paint historic barns in Fremont and in Gibsonburg in 2016.  

The Fremont barn, on Christy Road, features the Battle of Fort Stephenson, which took place in Fremont during the War of 1812.  

The barn in Gibsonburg, at the corner of Ohio 600 and Sandusky County Road 32, depicts 9-11, the World Trade Center towers and Gibsonburg’s Public Safety Service Memorial logo.

The latest barn is located just east of Woodville at 770 E. Main St. and boasts an image of former Woodville Township resident Henricks, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a four-time space shuttle astronaut.  

Henricks was born in Bryan, Ohio, but graduated from Woodmore High School in 1970 and considers Woodville his hometown.

CVB Executive Director Peggy Courtney said David Thornbury designed the artwork for the Henricks barn project, with Martin Marietta assisting with funding.

Courtney said the painted barns in Sandusky County bring in visitors and tourism dollars.

She said the CVB wants to find a barn to serve as a Sandusky County Bicentennial Barn in 2019. Courtney said the bureau is also looking for barns in the Clyde and Bellevue area that could be painted.

The Woodville barn celebrates the four shuttle missions Henricks flew, Courtney said.

Julie Pauley, Henricks' sister, read a statement on his behalf and thanked the CVB and community members for the barn tribute.

Woodville Mayor Rich Harman said Henricks has always given back to the community and its schools.

"Tom is very magnetic. He leaves a big footprint here in Woodville," Harman said.

The Sandusky County Historic Painted Barn Trail ties in with a statewide trail being established by the Ohio History Connection.  

With the statewide trail, a barn in each of the 88 counties in Ohio will be painted with a historic theme specific to that county.  

Other barns in the statewide barn trail include the Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry barn in Ottawa County, an Annie Oakley barn in Darke County and the Zoar Village bicentennial barn in Tuscarawas County.

dacarson@gannett.com

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Twitter: @DanielCarson7