Clark Byers, who for three decades painted “See Rock City” on more than 900 barns from Michigan to Florida, died Thursday. He was 89 and lived in Trenton, Ga.
Mr. Byers had been hospitalized after a heart attack and had been ill for the past three years, said his daughter Nancy Newgard.
Born in Alabama, Mr. Byers worked in a cotton mill and bottled buttermilk for $3 a week before he was hired in 1936 by an advertiser in Chattanooga, Tenn. To lure motorists to Rock City Gardens, a tourist attraction of rock formations in the nearby Georgia mountains, the advertiser wanted barn roofs painted with slogans.
Equipped with paint, chalk, brushes, ropes and two helpers, Mr. Byers drove the highways looking for barns to carry slogans like “To Miss Rock City Would Be a Pity” and “See 7 States From Rock City.”
Willing barn owners got a free paint job, Rock City bathmats and thermometers for their cooperation, according to The Associated Press. Those who wanted more than knickknacks were paid about $5.
“His message became a national brand for Rock City Gardens,” said Bill Chapin, president of See Rock City Inc., which owns and operates the gardens.
Allen Tullos, a professor of American studies at Emory University in Atlanta, said Mr. Byers’ work was “classic testimonial advertising that builds its truth on such trustworthy everyday objects as barns and birdhouses. These are familiar objects that you could not distrust at any time. It’s like a testimonial from your neighbor.”
After his barn-painting stint, Mr. Byers owned Sequoyah Caverns and Campground in Alabama before retiring to his farm.
His daughter said he spent his spare time painting the occasional sign for a church or high school ballfield and other activities, including hunting raccoons and playing golf at least once a week.
