← Back to Explore
Happy Jack is an 18-foot-wide, 15-foot-tall fiberglass pumpkin on the silo at Goebbert's Farm & Garden Center in South Barrington, Illinois. According to the farm, Jim Goebbert had it made in 1979 to turn the farm into a destination.
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.
© Stadia Maps © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors
Happy Jack Pumpkin (Goebbert's Farm)
This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
Site-level location · 42.0697° N, 88.1665° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
A fiberglass pumpkin called Happy Jack sits on the silo at Goebbert's Farm & Garden Center in South Barrington, Illinois, and the farm calls it a landmark for many people.
According to the farm, Goebbert's has been in the farm market business since 1948, when George Goebbert started a roadside vegetable stand in Arlington Heights. In 1972 Jim Goebbert bought the 40-acre farm in South Barrington and moved his family there. His three children began selling pumpkins by the roadside in 1973, and the farm says it got so busy one Saturday that Jim closed the Arlington Heights stand to help at home. That, the farm says, is how its fall festival began.
Add a photo
PRACTICAL
Plan your stop
WHAT TO EXPECT
The pumpkin stands on the silo of a working farm and garden center. The farm lists its 2026 fall festival as September 11 to November 1, with a maze, pig racing, giraffe barn and haunted house. Check the farm's website for hours and admission.
ACCESS
Goebbert's is a private business at 40 W. Higgins Road, South Barrington, with admission to its fall-festival attractions.
COMMUNITY
Visitor Log
WHAT'S NEXT
Find another Big Thing nearby
TRANSPARENCY
Sources & research
Something not right?
If this Big Thing has changed, moved or gone, telling us keeps the guide honest for the next traveller.