Big Red Apple

Cornelia, Georgia, United States

Roadside giants

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Big Red Apple is a 7-foot-tall, 22-foot-around steel-and-concrete apple monument beside the old railway depot in downtown Cornelia, Georgia. Molded in Winchester, Virginia, in 1925 and donated by Southern Railway, it was dedicated in 1926 to honour the area's apple industry.

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

No recommended arrival yet

We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Big Red Apple

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Site-level location · 34.5112° N, 83.5260° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Cornelia built a monument to a fruit. The City of Cornelia describes a replica of the north Georgia apple, 7 feet tall and 22 feet around, weighing 5,200 pounds, made of steel and concrete on a concrete pedestal 8 feet high.

According to the city, it was molded in Winchester, Virginia, in 1925 and shipped to the town by train; Southern Railway donated it. The New Georgia Encyclopedia dates the monument to 1925, while Georgia Trend (2018) and Explore Georgia give 1926 for the dedication, with a town celebration. The Northeast Georgian reported in June 2026 that families gathered on 4 June 100 years earlier for the original dedication of a monument honouring the city's role as a major apple shipping hub.

Explore Georgia says it honours the apple growers and the once-important apple industry of Cornelia and Habersham County, and records a face-lift in summer 2014. The city says a festival was held for many years in celebration of the area's apples, and that Cornelia has since been advertised as "the home of the Big Red Apple." Georgia Trend described it in 2018 as the centrepiece of two annual festivals; in September 2025 Now Georgia reported that the 37th annual Big Red Apple Festival, held downtown, had become one of Habersham County's largest annual events.

The monument stands on the old railway station grounds, beside the restored depot, in the middle of town.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

A public monument on the old railway station grounds in downtown Cornelia, beside the restored depot. According to the city it stands on an 8-foot concrete pedestal. The Big Red Apple Festival is held downtown each September.

ACCESS

On the former railway station grounds in downtown Cornelia, Georgia, next to the restored historic depot, according to Georgia Trend and the City of Cornelia. A public monument in the town centre.

COMMUNITY