When it comes to master showmen, most people might think first of P.T. Barnum who once observed, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
But Tennessee has its own candidate for great American showman: Garnet Carter.
It was Carter and his wife Frieda, who were responsible for those “See Rock City” barns and birdhouses that dotted the southern countryside to attract millions to Lookout Mountain and the Chattanooga area.
But Carter’s niche in the history books comes from the idea that made him a fortune – miniature golf. Carter didn’t invent the game, but he was the first to patent it in 1927.
It was supposed to be a diversion for kids, but adults loved to play it and in three years there were some 25,000 miniature golf courses in the U.S. Two years later Carter sold the patent rights and the money developed Rock City Gardens.
Tags: Garnet Carter
I always wondered who was the person behind those birdhouses. My parents had one for years until there were such large nests in it it fell apart.