 On Feb. 15, 1935, the late Lewis A. Barrick, also known as "Zoo,"
founded Barrick Transfer & Beverage Co. in Lincoln. The transfer
company has hauled meat, soda pop and other freight up and down
Route 66 for 75 years. The Lincoln Bottling Co. of Chicago was the
supplier of the soda. The soda was in glass bottles and wooden cases
and in the winter months had to be stored in the basement of their
house.
In 1938 Barrick expanded his company to add beer to the
soda and freight business. Among the brands handled over the next 56
years were Stag, Budweiser, Hamm's, Old Style and Stroh's. The
top-selling beers in the early days were Stag and Budweiser.
Zoo cared about the Route 66 community. Lincoln had a large
community of coal miners and many were his family and friends. Zoo's
father, Ben Barrick, built benches in the back of his truck to
provide transportation for the coal miners so they could attend the
dedication of the Mother Jones Monument in 1936.
Later he purchased a moving van and became a North American Van
Lines agent. Many times he would take a load of furniture up to
Chicago on Route 66 and pick up his soda before his return trip
home.
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In the early '60s he started interlining freight with other
companies for nationwide service. He operated terminals in Chicago
and St. Louis as well as the one in Lincoln, using Route 66 between
these cities on a daily basis.
The business that was started by Lewis "Zoo" Barrick continues
today as Barrick Enterprises, owned and operated by his son Jack and
grandson John.
The history of the business was featured in an LDN article on
Feb. 15:
http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2010/Feb/15/
News/today021510_b.shtml
[Text from file received from
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County]
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