Kahnah'bek Serpent

Crosby, Minnesota, United States

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Kahnah' bek is a styrofoam serpent sculpture, 20 feet high and 25 feet long and weighing about 2,500 pounds, in Crosby Memorial Park on Serpent Lake in Crosby, Minnesota. The City of Crosby says Creative Display Inc. of Sparta, Wisconsin, made it and that it arrived before a statewide firemen's convention in early June 1977. The Chamber of Commerce named it through a contest; the winner was announced in August 1978. MSP Magazine (2026) says the name means "serpent" in Ojibwe.

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Kahnah'bek Serpent

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Site-level location · 46.4795° N, 93.9555° W

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The story

Crosby, Minnesota, sits on Serpent Lake, and the serpent in its lakeside park is made of styrofoam.

The City of Crosby says the serpent in Crosby Memorial Park was sculpted by Creative Display Inc. of Sparta, Wisconsin. It is 20 feet high and 25 feet long, weighs 2,500 pounds and includes 20 or more shades of color. It was delivered before the statewide firemen's convention held in Crosby in early June 1977.

The city says the Chamber of Commerce offered a naming contest later in 1977 and that the winner was announced on 16 August 1978, "yes, more than a year later." The winning name was Kahnah' bek. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, in an April 2026 feature, says the name means "serpent" in Ojibwe. The magazine describes the sculpture as scaly and colorful, and as appearing poised to grab people playing along the lakeshore.

The lake's name has its own local explanation. The city says there are rumors of a mythical sea serpent in the waters, "but a more likely explanation is the shape of the lake led to its namesake."

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