Big Chicken

Marietta, Georgia, United States

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The Big Chicken is a 56-foot steel chicken-shaped structure above the KFC restaurant at 12 Cobb Parkway North in Marietta, Georgia (height per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; address per Explore Georgia). Georgia Tech architecture student Hubert Puckett designed it, and owner Stanley R. "Tubby" Davis erected it in 1963 to advertise Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck and Shake, a restaurant that, according to FOX 5 Atlanta, had served Cobb County since 1956. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Kentucky Fried Chicken took over the building in 1974. After high winds damaged the structure in 1993, public support persuaded the company to repair it rather than demolish it. FOX 5 Atlanta reported in 2017 that it reopened after a $2 million renovation. Locals have long used it as a landmark in driving directions.

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Big Chicken

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Site-level location · 33.9514° N, 84.5204° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The Big Chicken in Marietta, Georgia, began as a restaurant sign and became a navigation aid, a steel bird with rolling eyes and a flapping beak.

Explore Georgia says the restaurant was built in 1956 at 12 Cobb Parkway on a newly constructed stretch of Highway 41 and was originally called Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck and Shake. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reports that the 56-foot structure was designed by Hubert Puckett, a Georgia Tech architecture student, and erected in 1963 by Stanley R. "Tubby" Davis; Explore Georgia adds that it was fabricated by Atlantic Steel.

Kentucky Fried Chicken took over the building in 1974 and considered tearing the bird down after high winds damaged it in 1993, but overwhelming public support persuaded the company to repair it instead. A related AJC timeline says the bird was disassembled completely and that the restaurant held a grand reopening on January 26, 1994. The same timeline records a gift shop opening in 1997 and a repainting in June 2008. It also cites the book Georgia Curiosities as reporting that neighbors temporarily shut down the bird's rolling eyes and flapping beak after the features were deemed "too loud and scary for children."

Fox 5 Atlanta reported in August 2017 that a $2 million renovation paid for by KFC had wrapped up earlier that year.

Explore Georgia says locals have long used the Big Chicken as a landmark when giving driving directions. The AJC timeline places it at the junction of Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41) and Roswell Road (Georgia 120).

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Operating fast-food restaurant (KFC) with a giant chicken-head-and-comb structure built into the building's facade/roofline, at a major Marietta road intersection.

ACCESS

Located at 12 Cobb Parkway North, Marietta, GA 30062, at the intersection of Cobb Parkway (US 41/GA 3) and Roswell Road (GA 120); freely visible from the public road as a functioning restaurant with its own parking lot.

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0.7 km away

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