Big Ole is a 28 foot fiberglass Viking who stands at the north end of Broadway in Alexandria, Minnesota, his shield lettered with the town's claim: Alexandria, Birthplace of America. The claim rests on the Kensington Runestone, a slab dug up on a farm near Kensington in 1898 carrying a runic inscription that describes a Norse party in the region in 1362. Most scholars regard the carving as nineteenth century work, but Alexandria has kept the stone, and the Viking, ever since. The statue was built by Gordon Displays of Minneapolis in 1965 for the Minnesota pavilion at the New York World's Fair, where it stood beside the runestone itself. The figure cost 15,000 dollars, and the town paid 25,000 dollars for the whole display. Big Ole came home on 21 December 1965 and was planted in the middle of Broadway. His years since have been eventful. In November 1967 vandals set him alight while he was dressed in a Santa suit. In 1980 the city shifted him half a block north onto a median. Taken down for repairs in 1996, he was stored in the museum's agriculture building, whose roof collapsed onto him under snow the following February. His sword was stolen in 1995, a storm took a wing off his helmet in 2014, and a 2015 community appeal raised 26,500 dollars to repair his fiberglass and repaint him. Since 2002 he has stood in Big Ole Central Park, looked after by the Runestone Museum Foundation across the street.
Getting there
45.8910, -95.3773
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
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