Rock City is a roadside attraction near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Lookout Mountain in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, located near Ruby Falls.
It is well-known for the many barns throughout the southeast United States that have the slogan “See Rock City” painted on their roofs and sides. In total, over 900 barn roofs in nineteen states were painted by Clark Byers for Rock City.
Byers (ca. 1915 – 19 February 2004), of Trenton, Georgia, started painting advertising on barns in the American South for the Rock City attraction atop Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Rock City’s owners offered barn owners a free paint job and Rock City souvenirs in exchange for allowing Byers to placing a marketing message on their barns.
Because the barns came in various shapes and sizes, each sign was different, but all featured white lettering on a black background, executed in freehand. The number of words and their arrangement varied, based on the size and shape of the barn. On large barns, Byers might paint “See 7 States from ROCK CITY atop Lookout Mt. near Chatanooga, Tenn.” and on small barns, just “See Beautiful ROCK CITY today.”
