Rock City (attraction)

34°58′26″N 85°20′55″W / 34.97389°N 85.34861°W / 34.97389; -85.34861

View of Lover's Leap at Rock City from the Observation Deck
A barn advertisement in Sevier County, Tennessee

Rock City is a tourist attraction on Lookout Mountain in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Opened in May 1932 (92 years ago) (1932-05), the attraction gained prominence after owners Garnet and Frieda Carter hired Clark Byers in 1935 to paint "See Rock City" barn advertisements throughout the Southeast and Midwest United States; Byers painted over 900 barn roofs and walls, in 19 states, by 1969.[1][2][3]

Since its earliest days, Rock City has claimed that it is possible to see seven states from a particular spot (Lover's Leap) in Rock City; a scientist at the University of Tennessee, when asked to prove the issue in 2007, pointed out that the claim refers to seeing mountains and other high points in many of these other states, adding that the claim was made long before the air pollution associated with the proliferation of automobiles and coal-fired power plants, and summed up with "I never thought it significant."[3]

  1. ^ Tucker, Gregory (September 7, 2009). "Rock City painter left mark on South". The Tennessean. Retrieved September 9, 2009. [dead link‍]
  2. ^ Interactive, Papercut. "Rock City". seerockcity.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Henderson, Barry (September 26, 2002). "Oh, Say Can You See...?". Metro Pulse. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 16, 2007.