This week, Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum announced the passing of its founder, George W. Barber, Jr. He became a legendary figure in the Alabama coastal community for bringing us a full service marina with an Italian marble fountain, recreating Stonehenge and replica dinosaurs in the woods south of Elberta. One of his most photographed contribution is famous “Lady In The Lake”, who enjoys her spot in the waters of Barber Marina.
The Barber Motorsports Museum website details the story of Barber’s early career and how he parlayed his love of cars and racing into the nation’s premier racetrack and museum. In 2004, owner George Barber completed construction of the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL and decided the day had come to make his dream a reality. Construction began in 2004 with the excavation of a 9 acre basin. This basin would eventually become the home of the marina’s concrete floating docks. The marina opened for business in 2008, but major construction of the boatyard and service center continued until completion in 2010.
A profile by Motorcycle.com described Barber’s early career, “His father George H. Barber founded the Barber Pure Milk Co. family business in 1921, then purchased dozens of small independent dairies in the 1940s-’60s in making the renamed Barber’s Dairy company Alabama’s largest milk producer, while also helping establish U.S. standards for milk pasteurization. George W. Barber took over running the business on his father’s death in 1970, then eventually sold it in 1997 to Dean Foods of Dallas, Texas, before Walmart began threatening its viability,” the article says…