Here’s The Story Behind The Massive Paul Bunyan Statue In Maine

Maine is special for a lot of reasons, but one of them is just how quirky it is. From north to south and east to west there's always something unique to see. And most of the time these things are totally unexpected. Of these our favorites are the ones that seem to have no rhyme or reason. Like this statue in Bangor!

It might seem strange that there's a giant Paul Bunyan statue in Maine, but it's such a cool thing to see that we never really asked any questios.

Some things in Maine are just better off being appreciated without wondering how or why.

But, the curious part of us recently won out and we finally did some digging to find out why the world's largest Paul Bunyan statue found a home in Bangor.

The story is actually pretty simple! It dates back to 1959, what would have been the year of Paul's 125th birthday. To celebrate, a local Bangor committee raised $20,000 to pay a New York fabricator to build it.

But perhaps the most important part of the process was the design, which was done by J. Normand Martin, a local Maine artist.

Strangely, Martin was only paid $137 for the design, which is something we think Bangor should reevaluate given how popular this Paul Bunyan statue in Maine has become.

Today, visitors flock to this statue even though Minnesota lays the most believable claim to being the lumberjack's birthplace.

Tomato, tom-ah-to. This roadside attraction is just strange enough for Maine, and quite welcome here!

The Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor is free to visit. It can be found in Bass Park on the west side of Main Street. Have you visited? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments!

If you love the idea of this giant statue, you'll definitely want to take this quirky road trip to visit Maine's most unique roadside attractions!