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Big Ole is a 28-foot, four-ton fiberglass Viking statue made for the Minnesota pavilion at the 1965 New York World's Fair. He now stands in Big Ole Central Park, 200 Broadway, beside Lake Agnes in Alexandria, Minnesota.
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Big Ole
This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
Approximate location · 45.885° N, 95.377° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Big Ole has never held office or said a word, the Echo Press wrote in 2025, yet at 60 he is still one of Alexandria's most prominent residents. The fiberglass Viking stands 28 feet tall, weighs about four tons and carries a helmet, a spear and a shield that reads 'Alexandria Birthplace of America'.
His story begins at the 1965 New York World's Fair. Along with the Kensington Runestone itself, the statue was part of a three-phase plan to improve the fair's Minnesota pavilion. Gordon Displays of Minneapolis designed him; the statue cost $15,000, and Alexandria's total cost for the statue and the Runestone display was $25,000. In the first two days of the exhibit an estimated 250,000 people saw him.
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PRACTICAL
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WHAT TO EXPECT
No admission is mentioned. The Echo Press reported in May 2025 that a live webcam streams on ALP Utilities' YouTube channel.
ACCESS
Big Ole Central Park, 200 Broadway, Alexandria, MN, on the shore of Lake Agnes and across the street from the Runestone Museum, according to the Echo Press (May 2025).
COMMUNITY
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TRANSPARENCY
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