DeBary Dinosaur

DeBary, Florida, United States

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Animals and creatures

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Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A steel Tyrannosaurus rex statue, about 20 feet tall according to WKMG, stands at DeBary's Community Park. It once marked the Clayton & Sons salvage yard on US 17-92, and the yard's owners donated it to the city, which moved it in 2022.

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DeBary Dinosaur

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Site-level location · 28.8837° N, 81.3234° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

DeBary's dinosaur is a steel T. rex that got its job because customers kept missing a scrapyard. It now greets people at the city's Community Park, and it has a wardrobe.

The statue first stood at the Clayton & Sons salvage yard on US 17-92, a business open since 1972. In 2020 the yard's owner told WKMG: "I got the dinosaur because a lot of people just couldn't find us ... It was the biggest thing I could find." He said his mother, who loves holidays, came up with the idea of dressing it, and his girlfriend sewed. WKMG listed outfits for the Olympics, Valentine's Day, Christmas and St. Patrick's Day, plus a red, white and blue set, and said drivers honked as they passed.

When the 14-acre yard went up for sale in 2020 the owner said the dinosaur was not for sale and would be donated within the community. WKMG reported in June 2022 that the property had been sold, the business had closed and the statue had been given to the City of DeBary. It travelled about two miles on a truck with a police escort, and the mayor said families lined US 17-92 on a Monday morning to watch. It was renamed Clayton, after the yard's former owners, WKMG reported. The mayor said the parks and recreation department would take charge of the dressing-up tradition, and Fox 35 reported that Gateway Center for the Arts dressed it in red, white and blue for the Fourth of July that year.

Reports differ on size: WKMG gives 20 feet tall and 800 pounds; Fox 35 gives 600 pounds. The City of DeBary's Community Park page now shows the statue greeting visitors at the park; whether it is currently in costume is best checked on the day.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Clayton the dinosaur stands at DeBary's Community Park, near the splash pad. WKMG and Fox 35 reported in 2022 that he was dressed for holidays and events; the city's page lists the splash pad open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, for the season from spring break to about the end of October.

ACCESS

Community Park, 137 Highway 92, DeBary, a city park. The city lists the splash pad open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, for the season from spring break to about the end of October.

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Barberville Yard Art Emporium giant giraffe

Pierson, Florida

A 20-foot giraffe sculpture marks the entrance of the Barberville Yard Art Emporium, a large outdoor garden-ornament retailer at the corner of State Road 40 and Highway 17 in Pierson (Volusia County). The giraffe is one of several oversized handcrafted pieces at the property -- alongside a roughly 20-foot dinosaur and a 20-foot bear -- among hundreds of thousands of items (mostly handmade/hand-painted recycled cast aluminium, plus teak furniture and Mexican Talavera ceramics) run by current owner Carlos Pendola.

Characters and mascots

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40 km away

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