Theodore Roosevelt giant head (Roosevelt Inn, 20 ft)

Watford City, North Dakota, United States

·

Public art

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A 20-foot-tall, 8-ton concrete bust of Theodore Roosevelt by Houston artist David Adickes stands at the Roosevelt Inn & Suites, 600 2nd Ave SW, Watford City, North Dakota, along US Highway 85. It was made for Presidents Park in Lead, South Dakota, which opened in 2003 and had closed by about 2010. The inn's owner bought it in October 2012, and a Rapid City artist installed it.

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.

Theodore Roosevelt giant head (Roosevelt Inn, 20 ft)

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Approximate location · 47.802° N, 103.283° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Theodore Roosevelt's 20-foot concrete head came to Watford City from a South Dakota park of presidential busts that had closed.

Houston sculptor David Adickes made the bust, according to the Grand Forks Herald in December 2012. It is 20 feet tall and weighs 8 tons. Adickes created it for a Presidents Park that opened in Lead, South Dakota, in 2003 and displayed busts of all the presidents. By late 2012 that park had closed about two years earlier and was selling its properties, the Herald said. The paper said Adickes also opened a similar park in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The buyer was the owner of the Roosevelt Inn & Suites in Watford City, who told the Herald he bought the bust on the spot when he visited Lead at the end of October 2012, after a South Dakota salesman told him about it. A Medora campground owner had also wanted it, he said. He had bought the motel in 1989, when it was a Super 8, and converted it in 1993 to honour the 26th president. He hoped the bust would bring more visitors to Watford City and to the national park named after Roosevelt.

The park's owner arranged shipping, and a Rapid City artist installed the bust, which travelled in two pieces and was assembled and retouched. The Herald placed it along US Highway 85. North Dakota Tourism's listing gives the inn's address as 600 2nd Ave SW, and its sculpture article says the 20-foot bust calls Watford City home. A 2023 KFYR report mentions the statue of Theodore Roosevelt in the inn's parking lot.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

Roadside sculpture in the Roosevelt Inn & Suites property along US 85 at the west end of Watford City.

ACCESS

Private motel property; viewable from the highway frontage. A 2023 news article still identifies the motel by the Roosevelt statue in its parking lot.

COMMUNITY

Visitor Log

WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

✓

Current

Wheat Monument

Williston, North Dakota

The Wheat Monument in Davidson Park, Williston, North Dakota, is a tribute to agriculture and the settlers who farmed the prairie. Designed and built by David Njos, it was dedicated on 4 July 1987. Three iron wheat stalks, about 35 feet tall by North Dakota Tourism's account, rise above three black granite plaques, cut from the same stone as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which carry the names of area pioneers.

Landmarks and monuments

·

46 km away

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.

Suggest an update →Report a problem →