Clark Byers was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sign maker. He is famous for painting over 900 barns in 19 states with the slogan "See Rock City".

Byers, of Trenton, Georgia

Trenton, Georgia

Trenton is a city in Dade County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,942 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated municipality in the county, and as such it serves as the county seat....

, started painting advertising on barns

Barn advertisement

A barn advertisement is an outdoor advertisement painted onto the exterior of a roadside barn. Barn advertisers take advantage of the barns' prominence in rural landscapes, paying their owners for the right to paint and maintain logos and slogans on them...

 in the American South for the Rock City

Rock City

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 barn advertisements throughout the Southeast and Midwest United States that have the slogan "See Rock City" painted on barn roofs...

 attraction atop Lookout Mountain

Lookout Mountain

thumb|right|See seven statesLookout Mountain is located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southern border of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain, along with Sand Mountain to the northwest, makes up a large portion of the...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. 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."

Byers' efforts led to Rock City and Lookout Mountain becoming a national tourist destination.