The Barber Asphalt Company of
Washington, D.C. was founded in 1883 was founded by Amzi L. Barber. Barber, born in 1843. began his first career as a teaching professor, and then moved into real estate. While working In real estate, he was impressed by the need for affordable paved roads. He found that
asphalt was a great affordable material for paved roads. Later, he added
asphalt shingles to his products. In 1879 Barber moved his headquarters to
New York City. He had offices in Washington, D.C. from 1878 to 1912; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1912 to 1938; and
Maurer, Perth Amboy,
New Jersey from 1938 to 1948. In 1888 Barber leased the largest known asphalt deposit at
Pitch Lake,
Trinidad. The company underwent a number of splits, mergers, name changes, and purchases. Barber opened a subsidiary, called the Iroquois division, and
Iroquois Electric Refrigeration Company. Elkins Widener purchased the company in 1898 and merged it with his
Trinidad Corporation subsidiary. This formed the
Asphalt Company of America of New York. In 1899 the Asphalt Company of America was sold to John M. Mack and renamed the
National Asphalt Company of America. By 1900, the company had laid over 12 million square yards of
Trinidad asphalt pavement in 70 American cities at a cost of $35 million. The joint venture was called California Refining Company. In 1981 the company closed and sold all its assets. The oil and gas products line (
Barber Oil Corporation) was sold to Petro-Lewis Corporation. Shipping interests were sold to Apex Shipping. The Coal products (
Barber Paramont Coal) were sold to
Hanna Mining Company,
W. R. Grace & Company and Liberty Capital Group. American Gilsonite Company stocks were sold to
Standard Oil. ==World War II==