OCKLAWAHA, FL (352Today.com) – A hundred years of lake life met one of the FBI’s most famous gun battles on the same stretch of water this weekend.
The two have shared this shoreline for generations. Locals will tell you that Lake Weir has long been the backdrop for both cold drinks and high drama. On January 16, 1935, federal agents surrounded a rented lakeside house just an eighth of a mile from what is now Gator Joe’s Beach Bar & Grill. Inside were Kate “Ma” Barker and her son Fred. What followed was the longest shootout in FBI history, a four- to six-hour firefight that ended with both Barkers dead. Crazy to imagine, right?
Agents had zeroed in on the hideout after intercepting a letter that casually mentioned a local celebrity: a massive alligator known as “Old Joe.” That same gator later gave the restaurant its name. The place opened in 1926 as Barnes’ Beach, later operated as Johnson’s Beach, and eventually became Gator Joe’s in honor of the 15-foot legend who ruled the lake until a hunter named Vic Skidmore finally took him in 1952. One of Joe’s feet still hangs on the wall…