View this email in your browser · Missed one? Visit the Archives

This story references the brontosaurus, and there's a story behind that dinosaur (and whether it is a distinct species from the apatosaurus). I tried to make that the bonus fact but it's way too long, so I'll save it for another day. -- Dan

The Town in Alabama That Has Huge, Random Sculptures

The town of Elberta, Alabama is located just off the Gulf of Mexico, about an hour's drive southeast from Mobile and about 30 minutes west of Pensacola, Florida. (Here's a map.) Elberta is home to about 1,500 people and has seen a population boom over the last few decades; in the 1990s, only about 500 people lived there. But it's still pretty small and unless you know someone there, you're probably not going to swing by.

But you may want to. Where else can you see something like this?

Yes, that's a sculpture of a woman bathing. But she's not in the bath -- no bathtub would hold someone of her size. She's hanging out in the Barber Marina bay. And she's not alone.

The Lady in the Bay, as she's usually called, was created by a sculpture artist named Mark Cline. Cline runs a business called Enchanted Castle Studios, which creates these large sculptures for all sorts of businesses -- theme parks, mini-golf courses, museums, trade shows, etc. The sculptures' price tag, like the sculptures themselves, is huge, so most of us couldn't just call up Cline and ask him to make us a lawn ornament or two.

So when Cline received an inquiry for exactly that a few decades, he almost ignored it -- almost. As Alabama news site AL.com explains, one day in the early 1990s, "a man in a beat-up pickup truck pulled up to Cline’s studio and asked to buy some dinosaurs like the ones displayed in the studio yard. Cline, who had made the items for a dinosaur park, thought the man was joking and quoted the hefty price of $25,000 for several dinos." The man, it turned out, wasn't joking. According to Roadside America, "two weeks later the man called back. He said that his brother-in-law, billionaire George Barber, wanted seven Mark Cline dinosaurs."

Barber -- the son of a dairy magnate -- had a huge "lawn," as Roadside America notes; the expanse was roughly 10,000 acres. The seven dinosaurs, made of fiberglass with realistic-looking glass eyes, remained on Barber's property until 2011. That year, Barber relocated four of the dinos -- a T-Rex, a stegosaurus, a triceratops, and a brontosaurus -- to a public space in Elberta, calling the free experience "Dinosaurs in the Woods." Today, visitors can walk through the wooded area and come across the four sculptures, standing around waiting for an ice age or meteor strike or something. (Here's a blog post with some pictures if you don't want to make the trip yourself.)

And Barber was just getting started. He'd later commission the creation of a fiberglass replica of Stonehenge, now called "Bamahenge," as seen here, a short walk from the dinosaurs. Barber also commissioned Cline to create a giant sundial, a giant spider, and some sculptures of knights, all of which are now found in the same general vicinity. And, of course, there's the 50-foot Lady of the Bay, above. You can visit them all today, if you'd like, except perhaps for the Lady. She was damaged by a hurricane in 2019 and needed repairs, which were supposed to be completed by spring 2022, but appear to have been delayed.

It's unclear if Barber will continue his partnership with Cline; he's apparently paying for the repairs to the Lady but hasn't commissioned anything new in the last few years.

Ready to never lose your wallet again? Today only, get a FREE Carbon Case for Airtag ($40 Value) with every wallet or kit. The Ridge is slim, RFID-blocking, guaranteed for life — and now smarter than ever. Plus, get up to 40% off the sitewide sale.

Get yourself an awesome new wallet -- or get one as a gift for someone else! Shop now.

Sponsored

Bonus fact: Barber isn't the only billionaire who has a collection of huge dinosaur statues. In 2013, an Australian billionaire and politician named Clive Palmer bought a hotel and ordered 160 animatronic dinosaurs for the site that, according to Sunshine Coast News, "not only roared, but moved heads, limbs and mouths and even blinked at visitors." Billed as the "largest dinosaur park in the world," Palmer priced admission at AU$100 per family -- which proved too expensive. The park shuttered in 2015 due to a lack of interest. (There are some nascent plants to reopen it, but we'll see.) You can watch a short video walk-through of the experience here, but be forewarned: it's underwhelming and probably a waste of your time.

From the Archives: Georgia's Version of Stonehenge: A story from 2017 that needs updating -- in July of 2022, someone bombed the site, destroying the sculptures. (Here's a video of the explosion.) Also, the bonus item in this story references Cline.

Like today's Now I Know? Share it with a friend -- just forward this email along.

And if someone forwarded this to you, consider signing up! Just click here.

Share

Forward

Archives · Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 Now I Know LLC, All rights reserved.
You opted in, at http://NowIKnow.com via a contest, giveaway, or the like -- or you wouldn't get this email.

Now I Know is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Some images above via Wikipedia.

Now I Know's mailing address is:

Now I Know LLC

P.O. Box 536

Mt. Kisco, NY 10549-9998

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your email address or unsubscribe from this list

Now I Know: The Town in Alabama That Has Huge, Random Sculptures

The Town in Alabama That Has Huge, Random Sculptures

Older messages

Now I Know: Celebrating Christmas at 36,000 Feet

Now I Know: The Street Vendor Who Made a Fortune Selling Potato Peelers

Now I Know: Write a four paragraph blog post explaining what ChatGPT is

Now I Know: He's The Type That Likes Numbers?

Now I Know: Why Do These Dollars Say "Hawaii" On Them?

You Might Also Like

• Black Fri TO CyberMon Book Promos for Authors ➳ Book Your Spot Now •

SEO is Not Dead: The Power of Free Tools

KU & Paperback • The Story Weaver by Sally Zigmond • A colourful mix of beautifully crafted stories

My Scurvy Mistake

🎤 The SWIPES Email (Friday, November 15th, 2024)

Swing for This PR Technique

🧙‍♂️ 3 reasons I wrote Sponsor Magnet

The Historic Connection Between TV Dinners and Diarrhea?

Navigating Private Equity ownership. @ Irrational Exuberance

Black November - Double Discount💥