Pierson, Florida: Aluminum Statues - Barberville Produce

Produce and yard statuary business known locally for its unusual pieces exhibited outdoors. No promises about what you'll see... everything is for sale.

Metal Statues at Barberville Produce

It's not everyone that needs a 10-foot ceramic rooster or an 18 foot dinosaur, but its nice to know you can find one in a pinch. The dinosaur is an iconic image at Barberville Produce ( "The Fruit Stand"), a two-acre menagerie of oddities in wrought-iron that renders such a humble name inadequate.

Standing at the corner of U.S. Highway 17 and State Road 40, along one of Central Florida's most traveled rural roadways, the stand does stock peanuts and honey, but its bizarre big ticket items that have kept it in business for almost 20 years. Cast-aluminum Clydesdales, buffalo, bears, lions and alligators are silent sentries in the dirt, as if it's the boarding area for Noahs Ark. They beckon drivers to stop and maybe buy a giant street lamp, scale-model of the Statue of Liberty or some other kitschy collectible that would qualify as the ultimate impulse purchase.

[Jonina Kersten, 08/07/2012]