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Pedro is the sombrero-wearing mascot of South of the Border, the roadside complex at Hamer, South Carolina. ROUTE magazine describes a giant Pedro statue whose legs were wide enough for cars to pass through; The Autopian called him a 104-foot-tall mascot in April 2026.
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Pedro (South of the Border)
This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
Site-level location · 34.5459° N, 79.2717° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Pedro is the mascot of South of the Border, the roadside complex at Hamer, South Carolina, and his image has advertised the attraction on billboards since the 1950s.
ROUTE magazine says Alan Schafer, who turned a 1947 beer stand into the attraction, met two young men on a mid-1950s trip to Mexico, helped them move to the United States and hired them as motel bellboys. Visitors called them Pedro and Pancho, then simply Pedro, and the mascot was born. He went on to appear on more than 200 billboards at the attraction's peak along I-95 and other highways. The magazine describes him as round-faced and mustachioed beneath a large sombrero, and calls the image "a cheerful stereotype of the Mexican bandido."
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PRACTICAL
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WHAT TO EXPECT
A giant mascot figure within a commercial roadside complex. In April 2026 The Autopian reported the arcade, reptile house and Sombrero Observation Tower open, and noted that 30 acres of the property, including the defunct theme park, were listed for sale in December 2025.
ACCESS
Within the South of the Border complex at Hamer, South Carolina; commercial property, with attractions and shops operating on their own schedules.
COMMUNITY
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