Paul Bunyan Statues and Stories

Bunyan Was The Strongest Lumberjack In The World

Paul Bunyan supposedly could cut down rows of trees with one mighty swing of his axe and his trusty sidekick Babe could haul them away just as fast as Bunyan chopped them down.

Rumor has it that Paul loved flapjacks, so his camp cook, Sourdough Sam, had a griddle made up that was so big you could barely see from one side to the other. Sam hired 50 men, tied slabs of bacon fat to their feet and had them skate over the griddle to prevent the oversized flapjacks from sticking.

You need to check out one of the longest running celebrations of the legendary Paul Bunyan held every year around Labor Day in Fort Bragg, California.

It's called Paul Bunyan Days (of course!) and they have logging shows ($10,000 in prizes!), parades, and generally all things "Bunyan". They have the "Blue Ox Beer Festival" and a number of dog shows. All this has been going on for about 70 years now, so if you are in the area of Fort Bragg around Labor Day, stop in for some lumberjack fun.

Oscoda claims Bunyan as it's native son and this statue stands in front of Furtaw Field. Oscoda also has their own Paul Bunyan Days Festival.

I like this one with the fully grown tree slung casually over his shoulder.

This statue of Paul Bunyan is located at Ossineke Michigan. He stands about 25 feet tall and weighs about 11 tons. The accompanying statue of Babe is about 10 feet tall. The Bunyan statue was built around 1938 and the Babe statue in 1953.

The inscription on the base of the statue states: "It is a misdemeanor to deface or climb on Paul Bunyan or Babe."

Manistique also claims to be the birthplace of Paul Bunyan and has had this statue of him since the early 1970s. It currently stands in front of the Chamber of Commerce. It's about 15 feet tall.

This seated Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox appear to have been built sometime in the 1950s. Bunyan sits near the base of 200 foot column of rock that has an old ramp which provides a view of nearby Lake Huron. Bunyan seems to be looking out at the lake from behind the chain link fence.

There are some older photos of this one where Paul's hands are at his sides and the Babe is different too, kind of slanty.

These two are some of the older statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe, The Blue Ox. They were built in 1937 for a local carnival that the lumbering heritage of Bemidji. This statue of Bunyan measures about 18 feet tall, while Babe is 23 feet long from nose to tail.

This 31 foot tall statue of Paul Bunyan was erected in 1959. It has a time capsule in it's base and is made of fiberglass reinforced with steel. Because Bangor was considered the Lumber Capital of the World at one time, residents of Maine claim Paul Bunyan is their local son. The statue weighs an impressive 3,700 pounds and was built to celebrate Bangor's 125th anniversary as a city.

I like this shot of the guy doing a little beard maintenance on the Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor Maine.

Reputedly the tallest Paul Bunyan statue, at about 49 feet tall, resides in Klamath California. Babe is about 35 feet tall and used to snort smoke from his nostrils but that would scare the little ones so it was stopped. This Paul Bunyan speaks to tourists, winks and used to be able to nod and swivel his head.

This is actually the 3rd Bunyan statue at the Trees of Mystery tourist site. The first was made of paper-mache, but it lasted only a year. This one appeared in the 1960s and is a favorite for visiting photographers. You can get a sense of how big these statues are by looking at the little fellow at Paul's foot.

This massive statue of Paul Bunyan is located in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin by Paul Bunyan's Northwoods Cook Shanty. That's a link to the restaurant's website. They serve good eats: flapjacks with camp-style maple syrup, link sausage, baked ham, grill scrambled eggs and camp fried potatoes.

Check out the statues of Paul and Babe in front of the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The museum was opened in 1934 and offers tours and a fine gift shop.

Babe the Blue Ox stands at the Maple Heights Campground and is a beloved tourist attraction in his own right. He's about ten feet tall. He used to be stand out front of Paul Bunyan's Corner Pub in Lakewood, Wisconsin along with a statue of Paul Bunyan until a fire destroyed the pub. Babe went to the Maple Heights Campground, while Paul travelled to North Carolina.

At the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, they had an old log cabin exhibit which gave visitors the appearance that Paul Bunyan had picked up the cabin and was looking in through one of the windows. Unfortunately, the exhibit was removed in the 1970s. You were able to look out of knotholes in the cabin walls and see some of Bunyan's buddies, like Babe, and some of the camp workers who worked the woods with Bunyan.

This statue of the big guy in Akeley, Minnesota is perfect for pictures as you can sit in Paul Bunyan's hand. He is located outside the Akeley Paul Bunyan Historical Museum. He stands about 20 feet tall, but if he stood up to his full height, he would be about 33 feet high. He was built in 1984.

This statue of Paul Bunyan looks it was carved right out of one large tree. And there's the stump underneath his feet.

The Paul Bunyan Amusement Center was in Brainerd, Minnesota for 50 years before they closed down. A 26 foot tall Paul Bunyan sat in his cabin and greeted children by name. Babe the Blue Ox stood guard out in the parking lot.

This Bunyan statue had the reputation of being the World's Largest Talking Animated Man. When the park closed in 2003, local Alan Rademacher purchased the pair (and others) for his amusement center called Paul Bunyan Land/This Old Farm located about 8 miles east of Brainerd.

This is the statue of Babe that was located at the Paul Bunyan Amusement Center in Brainerd, but it is now at it's new home at Paul Bunyan Land/This Old Farm just outside of Brainerd.

When Paul Bunyan offers you a colossal hotdog, you better eat it! I'm not sure where this statue of Paul Bunyan is located so if you know, let me know in the comments.

There's even at least one school named after Paul Bunyan with this elementary school taking his name in Bemidji, Minnesota

There's another Paul Bunyan statue over at the Enchanted Forest in Old Forge, New York. They claim over 50 rides and attractions including 31 water rides!, classic amusement rides, loads of storybook character attractions. Great fun for the whole family. Here's a page with lots of pictures about the various attractions at the Enchanted Forest.

This is one of my favorite Paul Bunyan statues. The statue is about 11 and a half feet tall showing a seated waving Bunyan. It was created by Josh Porter of Avalon Studios. This Paul Bunyan is located at the Brainerd Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center.

The picture above shows a new Paul Bunyan sculpture being set up in Jenkins, Minnesota in July 2008. Created by Josh Porter of the Avalon Studios (he also did the sitting Bunyan at the Brainerd Welcome Center), the statue now sits in the park area between two businesses owned by Rick and Leah Beyer in Jenkins.

It's sure to become a local tourist attraction. Jenkins said that the reason why he wanted a statue of Paul Bunyan was because it helped keep the old logging heritage in the area alive.