Amzi L. Barber

Who was Amzi L. Barber?

Amzi Lorenzo Barber was a pioneer of the asphalt industry in the United States, and an early participant in the automobile industry as well. He laid many of the roads in Westchester County, New York and was known as "The Asphalt King".

Barber was born in 1843 in Saxton's River, Windham County, Vermont the son of Amzi Doolittle Barber, the pastor of the Congregationalist Church there. He grew up in Ohio and attended Oberlin College, graduating in 1867. He briefly considered following his father's vocation in the ministry, but instead took a teaching position at Howard University.

Abandoning teaching for a business career, he partnered with U.S. Senator John Sherman for some real estate deals in Washington D.C., which led to an interest in asphalt for paving city streets, after a government study determined it to be the best available method. Several years later, Barber formed a company to produce asphalt, and in 1888 secured a 42-year monopoly concession for the pitch from Trinidad used in asphalt production. Barber moved the Washington-based business to New York City, and it continued to expand, becoming, against Barber's wishes, part of an asphalt trust. Barber retired from the business in 1901, just before the trust collapsed, but returned to the industry in 1904.