Bamahenge, photo by Dennis Church, use according to Creative Commons license 2.0

“As it is, I’m probably the only man in history to build two full-size replicas of Stonehenge,” says Cline. “And to think it took the Neolithic people 1,500 years just to build one.” —from the article “How Stonehenge Replicas Became The World’s First Meme,” by Jed Oelbaum.

“You know, I’ve got some more plans for doing more structures in southern Alabama. Let’s put it this way, when the aliens land, they’re going to be really surprised and confused. That’s all I’m going to say.” —Mark Cline quoted on this site, by Brian Kelly.

Anyone who knows Clonehenge by now will know by these two quotations that we must be great fans of Mr. Mark Cline, and indeed we are! In the early days of the blog we were in touch with him by email several times, about his first replica, Virginia’s Foamhenge. We enjoyed his intelligence, enthusiasm, and humour. And, well, sheer wackiness!

Why it has taken us years to do an entire post about his fantastic fibreglass Stonehenge in the state of Alabama is difficult to understand. The truth is, we had forgotten that we had only posted about it on Facebook and Twitter and not here on the blog itself  (except, of course, for listing it on the list of Large Permanent Replicas). Today at last we rectify that situation.

This replica was commissioned by George Barber, who is, among a number of other things, owner of a marina in Elberta, Alabama. It is impressive, but one could argue that, because the stones are more uniform in shape, this is not as fine a replica as was Foamhenge. There are no bluestones, either, no ditch and bank, no extra or outlier stones. But—this henge goes one better. In the woods all around it, there are dinosaurs! The addition may not make a more perfect replica for the Stonehenge perfectionist, if there is such a thing, but in the eyes of Clonehenge, this rockets it into the rarified stratosphere of The Greats! A much better choice than Easter Island heads!

The T-Rex, from the Elberta Dinosaurs FB page

As Atlas Obscura puts it on its Bamahenge post:
“Cline’s work is big, typified by the dinosaurs that dot the landscape around his Virginia studio. It was these sculptures that caught the eye of Alabama billionaire George Barber, who wanted some dinosaurs for himself. He had Cline install four—a brontosaurus, a T-Rex, a stegosaurus and a triceratops—along the edge of the woods near Barber Marina in Elberta. Barber was so happy with the ginormous creatures, he commissioned Cline to create a replica Stonehenge for the marina property, reminiscent of the “Foamhenge” that Cline built in Virginia in 2004.”

The whole thing has become quite an attraction in Alabama, with the only complaint being that it is somewhat difficult to find. Meanwhile, in the article by Jed Oelbaum that we quoted from above (and in which we figure prominently, so be sure to read it! 😉 ), Cline hinted at yet another Stonehenge replica commission that may come from George Barber. Owning two full-sized Stonehenges may never have been done before. Surely making three has not. Stay tuned for any news on that!

We leave you with this smattering of photos from a “Bamahenge” Google search. That’s Mark Cline in the third down on the left! He is truly a Clonehenge hero, contributing with humour, style, and a very American taste, to the Clonehenge epidemic. May he have joy, health, and prosperity as he henges!

And until we meet here again, dear readers, we wish you, too, some very happy henging!