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.

“We can do this in Birmingham!” Barber said in 1999, according to the museum’s timeline, explaining that, “Barber set out to create a one-of-a-kind, world-class facility. Going even further, he imagined a road course as well, where the ‘living museum’ quality of the collection could be demonstrated.”

The museum boasts that it is home to over 1,800 motorcycles spanning more than 100 years of production. In April 2014, Barber was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as having the world’s largest motorcycle collection.

“I’d like to have done it faster, that’s all! But other than that, no. It’s a dream come true – it really is. The Guinness Book of World Records says it’s the World’s largest motorcycle museum. I’m delighted to be a part of creating that,” Barber replied.

The Barber Marina has a similar vibe with antique boat motors adorning the walls and it commitment to construction excellence. The marina boasts a campus of 25+ acres of beautifully maintained landscaping, nestled within a larger 3,000 acre tract of company-owned land.