Johnny Kaw

Manhattan, Kansas, United States

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Johnny Kaw is a statue of a fictional Kansas folk-hero giant, a character created in 1955 for Manhattan's centennial. It stands in City Park in Manhattan, Kansas, and is built of concrete over a steel frame. It was completed in 1966 at a cost of $7,000, funded by local donations. The city's visitor bureau gives its height as approximately 25 feet; a 2019 news report gives 24 feet.

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Johnny Kaw

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Site-level location · 39.1836° N, 96.5717° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Johnny Kaw is a 24- or 25-foot concrete giant in City Park in Manhattan, Kansas, and he began as a newspaper series written for the town's centennial.

The Manhattan visitor bureau says a Kansas State University horticulture professor created the Johnny Kaw legend in 1955 for Manhattan's centennial. The stories first appeared in the Manhattan Mercury and were later collected in a book illustrated by Elmer J. Tomasch. In the tales Johnny dug out the Kansas River Valley, planted the state's wheat fields, invented sunflowers, wrestled tornadoes and controlled the weather for farmers; his animal companions, a wildcat and a jayhawk, whose scuffles supposedly caused dust storms, traveled with him. The bureau calls him "fakelore," a modern legend that feels timeless, and the bureau calls him Kansas's answer to folk heroes such as Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill, and WIBW likewise names Paul Bunyan.

The statue came eleven years later. The bureau says it was built in 1966 from concrete over a steel frame at a cost of $7,000, funded entirely by local donations, and gives its height as approximately 25 feet. A 2019 WIBW report gives 24 feet. Wikipedia adds that it holds a scythe, that it was dedicated on 15 May 1966, and that the cost ran well above original estimates of $3,000 to $3,500. The bureau says a tornado swept through Manhattan not long after installation and the statue stood.

In 2019 WIBW reported the dedication of Johnny Kaw Plaza, prompted by how many people posed for photos at the statue: repairs, a repainted statue, and a new concrete plaza, steps and railing, paid for by donations rather than taxpayer money. The bureau dates a plaza update to 2018, so the two dates disagree.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Visit Manhattan, the Manhattan Convention and Visitors Bureau, states the statue is free to visit and open year-round, in City Park. Hours of the park are not documented in the sources reviewed; check locally before visiting.

ACCESS

City Park, Manhattan, KS.

COMMUNITY

Visitor Log

WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

The Big Spur is a 28-foot-tall spur built by Larry Houston in 2002 that stands on its ends to form an arch in front of Rittel's Western Wear, 1810 N. Buckeye Avenue, in Abilene, Kansas, according to the city's tourism page. It weighs about a ton.

Roadside giants

63 km away

TRANSPARENCY

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