Paul Bunyan metal sculpture Alpena Community College

Alpena, Michigan, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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'Kaiser Paul' is a 30-foot lumberjack statue on the Alpena Community College campus, built in the 1960s by artist Betty Conn of Birmingham, Michigan, from recycled Kaiser automobile parts for a Gaylord gas station and brought to Alpena in 1999.

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Paul Bunyan metal sculpture Alpena Community College

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Site-level location · 45.0816° N, 83.4446° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Kaiser Paul is a giant lumberjack built out of old cars. According to The Alpena News in June 2026, artist Betty Conn of Birmingham, Michigan, made the 30-foot-tall figure in the 1960s entirely from recycled Kaiser automobile parts: a hood forms the chest, headlights serve as eyes and steel shavings make the hair and beard.

It was made for a Gaylord gas station called "Paul Bunyan's Gas and Eat." The newspaper reports that after the station closed in the 1970s the statue changed locations several times and narrowly avoided being scrapped. It was later restored and refurbished, and arrived in Alpena in 1999 through the efforts of a team of local donors.

Further restoration followed. The Alpena News says Alpena Community College's Auto Body Program worked on the figure in 2001, and that it was restored again in 2014 with support from several backers named in the article, among them Schepke Forest Products and NEMROC, Inc.

The statue stands on the college campus and has become a symbol of the college's Lumberjacks. The same article places it along the Alpena Bi-Path, the Alpena Sculptured Bikeway/Walkway, which grew out of a community project for the 1976 Bicentennial and which the paper marks with a 50th-anniversary feature. That pathway also passes other public sculptures, including works at the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library.

The article calls Kaiser Paul one of the most recognisable landmarks on the route. As a campus feature it is outdoors on college grounds, and a visit combines naturally with a walk or ride along the Bi-Path.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A tall metal lumberjack built from Kaiser car parts, standing outdoors on the Alpena Community College campus. In June 2026 The Alpena News described it as a symbol of the college's Lumberjacks and a landmark on the Alpena Bi-Path.

ACCESS

Outdoor statue on the grounds of Alpena Community College, Alpena, Michigan, reached from the campus and the Alpena Bi-Path. It stands on college property, so follow any campus rules.

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The Eagle is a welded steel, stainless steel, copper and brass sculpture by artist Tom Moran on the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan campus in Alpena. Built in 2000 and installed in 2009, it measures 12 by 12 by 16 feet, according to The Alpena News.

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0.3 km away

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