Road signs ahead
I have a question that has been on my mind for months now. Whenever I travel around Kentucky, I keep noticing these large square shaped signs that seem to have different “quilt type” designs on them. They seem to all have different colored designs on them and have no wording. I have seen the signs next to major roads such as I-75 and on smaller side roads. Sometimes the signs are attached to barns, but mostly they are free standing with designs on both sides. What is the meaning of these signs and who is responsible for them?
I spoke with a person at the Kentucky Department of Transportation and she said these signs were not produced by the state. She suggested that the signs were originally handpainted, but then were shared among folks. They tend to show up on barns, above barn doors, around Eastern Kentucky. If others know about these signs, please share.
-Lu-Ann
Filed under: Road Work
My mother was a public school librarian. I earned a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Kentucky. The Herald-Leader hired me as a news assistant 25 years ago; soon after, I moved to the news research department, where I’ve been ever since. We used to clip newspapers. Now, almost all of our research is online. We've come a long way.
Those are indeed “quilt squares”..posted on barns throughout this area..northeast Ky. One local lumber yard will donate the frame..you buy the paint and have your design approved by Chamber of Commerce and put it up on the ol’ barn. There are several in the Flemingsburg area. Many of the squares have a history from the underground railroad and were coded messages for the slaves that were escaping north.
Could these be a take on the Pennsylvania Dutch “Hex” Signs? I’ve seen those quilt squares in Kentucky, and I recognized them from barn signs I’ve seen while traveling through Pennsylvania.
Taken from Wikipedia:
“Hex signs are a form of folk art, thought by some to be of a talismanic nature, found in the Fancy Dutch tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Artfully painted hexagonal star-like patterns are a well-known sight on Pennsylvania Dutch barns in and around central Pennsylvania, especially Berks County.
Hearts and tulips seen on barns are commonly found on elaborately lettered and decorated birth, baptism and marriage certificates known as Fraktur. In recent years, they have been increasingly used by non-Pennsylvania Dutch persons as talismans for folk magic rather than as items of decoration. Some scholars argue that they have never had any connection with superstition or magic. They are viewed as decorative symbols of ethnic identification, possibly originating in reaction to 19th Century attempts made by the government to suppress the Pennsylvania German language. In the 20th Century, mobile signs were produced as commodities. These signs could be bought and then mounted onto barns.”
Just a thought.