An advertisement of sorts occupies the north-facing side of the old red barn sitting along Darrow Road just south of the town square: chew mail pouch tobacco; treat yourself to the best. The three-story barn next to the Twinsburg Historical Society has stood on that lot since 1870, when it was built for Dr. Seth Freeman, as a home for the horses and wagon he used when making house calls.

The sign, a nostalgic reminder of a bygone era, was painted in the fall of 1987 by Harley Warrick. According to Marge Percy, one-time president of the Twinsburg Historical society:

“Here is how the project began. At the meeting of the society, I shared a column by Frances Murphy of [the] Akron Beacon [Journal], where she described Mr. Warrick and his work and how to reach him. I received a unanimous OK to proceed with the project. I called Mr. Warrick, who lived in West Virginia. He agreed to the project, but before he presented the idea to his boss, the society had to fulfill a list of criteria which was…

1. Written consent for such a project had to be given by the mayor and council of the town and township.

2. The sign had to be visible from a major highway.

3. The sign had to be a reasonable distance from any bar or liquor store.

Though he was never a household name, Mr. Warrick’s artistry and advertisements have been seen by countless drivers and passengers along America’s highways and byways. Twinsburg’s very own mural was a labor of love that took the better part of twelve hours to complete. The craft honed by Warrick and the career he was devoted to spanned more than fifty years and more than twenty thousand barns. His initials, a humble “H.W.,” are painted at the lower left corner of the mural.

In 1981, the Jonathan Herrick House was slated for demolition at its original location on Darrow Road near Old Mill Road; an industrial park was to be built in its place. Thanks to a $25,000 grant and a donation from the land developer, a plan was implemented within six weeks in order to dismantle and move the house to Hale Farm and Village.

Norma Stefanik was the architecture consultant at Hale Farm and Village who oversaw the initial challenge of moving the home, considered “one of the finest stone houses of Greek Revival architecture in the Western Reserve.” The home was built out of locally quarried sandstone, rumored to have been purchased from another Herrick relative who lived in the area and owned a stone quarry. Jonathan Herrick was one of seven brothers. Born in Worthington, Massachusetts, Herrick moved to Aurora, Ohio in 1826 and married Phila Clark shortly after. The stone home was built in 1845, weighing 141 tons. Because of the home’s original stone construction, the home could not be moved as a whole but needed to be entirely dismantled stone by stone. Wallpaper was peeled off and mortar chipped off in order to prepare for moving. It took 20 truckloads to transport the stones, which had each been individually numbered to assist in the reconstruction process.

Because of the cost required for rebuilding the home, the stones sat in a pile for years before the reconstruction process could begin. Conservator Shawn Godwin was responsible for helping restore the home, which finally opened to the public on Friday, July 8, 1989.

Jonathan Herrick and his family are buried at Locust Grove Cemetery.