Giants of the Prairies
The Giants of the Prairies are a group of "world's biggest" roadside attractions found in Western Canada, especially in small towns populated mostly by Ukrainian Canadians.
List
[edit]| Attraction | Community | Province | Image | Date Constructed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World's Largest Badminton Racket | St. Albert | Alberta | 2000[1] | |
| World's Largest Beaver | Beaverlodge | Alberta |  |
2004 |
| World's Largest Bee | Falher[2] | Alberta | .png) |
1990[3] |
| World's Largest Honey Bee | Tisdale[4] | Saskatchewan | 1993 | |
| Aaron the Blue Heron[5] | Barrhead | Alberta | 1984 | |
| World's Largest Border Markers | Lloydminster | Alberta and Saskatchewan | 
|
1994[6] |
| World's Largest Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider, "The Legacy" | Ponoka | Alberta | 2004[7] | |
| World's Largest bunnock | Macklin | Saskatchewan |  |
1994[8] |
| World's Largest Curling Rock | Arborg[9] | Manitoba | 2005[10] | |
| World's Largest Coke Can | Portage la Prairie | Manitoba |  |
1994[11] |
| World's Largest Chuckwagon | Dewberry | Alberta | 1995[12] | |
| World's Largest Dinosaur | Drumheller | Alberta |  |
2001 |
| World's Largest Fire Hydrant | Elm Creek[13] | Manitoba | 2001[14] | |
| World's Largest Animated Grizzly Bear | Innisfail[15] | Alberta | 2013[16] | |
| Goose Statue[17] | Hanna | Alberta | ||
| World's Largest Golf Tee | Trochu[18] | Alberta | 2009[19] | |
| World's Largest kielbasa | Mundare | Alberta |  |
2001[20] |
| World's Largest Mallard Duck | Andrew | Alberta |  |
1992[21] |
| World's Largest Mosquito | Komarno | Manitoba | ||
| World's Largest Mushroom | Vilna | Alberta |  |
|
| World's Largest Oil Can | Rocanville[22] | Saskatchewan |  |
|
| World's Largest Oil Derrick | Redwater | Alberta | ||
| World's Largest Oil Lamp | Donalda | Alberta |  |
|
| World's Largest painting on an easel (reproduction of Van Gogh's Sunflowers) | Altona | Manitoba | .jpg) |
1998 |
| World's Largest Piggy Bank | Coleman | Alberta | ||
| World's Largest Putter | Bow Island | Alberta | ||
| World's Large Pinto Bean, "Pinto Macbean" | Bow Island | Alberta | .jpg)
| |
| Giant Sunflower | Bow Island | Alberta | ||
| Giant Prairie Crocuses | Daysland | Alberta | ||
| World's Largest Softball, "Susie" | Chauvin | Alberta | ||
| World's Largest Railroad Spike | Hines Creek[23] | Alberta | ||
| World's Largest Sundial | Lloydminster | Alberta and Saskatchewan | ||
| World's Tallest Teepee | Medicine Hat | Alberta |  |
|
| World's Largest Wagon Wheel and Pick | Fort Assiniboine | Alberta | 
|
|
| World's Largest Western Boot | Edmonton | Alberta | ||
| Giant Baseball | Edmonton | Alberta | ||
| Giant Horse | Irricana | Alberta | ||
| David Thompson Monument | Lac La Biche | Alberta | ||
| Giant Pumpkin | Smoky Lake | Alberta | 
|
|
| World's First UFO Landing Pad | St. Paul | Alberta |  |
|
| Giant perogy | Glendon | Alberta |  |
|
| Giant Vegreville egg (Pysanka) | Vegreville | Alberta |  |
1975 |
| Giant potatoes | Vauxhall | Alberta |  |
|
| Giant replica of the Star Trek starship USS Enterprise | Vulcan | Alberta |
 |
|
| Giant gopher | Torrington | Alberta | ||
| The Happy Rock | Gladstone | Manitoba | .jpg) |
1993 |
| Canada's Largest Baseball Bat | Battleford[24] | Saskatchewan | ||
| Canada's Largest Baseball Glove | Heisler[25] | Alberta | ||
| Canada's Largest Buffalo | Wainwright | Alberta | ||
| Canada's Largest Dragonfly | Wabamun[26] | Alberta |  |
|
| World's Largest Moose, "Mac the Moose" | Moose Jaw | Saskatchewan |  |
|
| Battle between Bear and Swan | Swan Hills | Alberta | ||
| Giant Skunk, "Squirt" | Beiseker | Alberta | ||
| Alberta's Largest Northern Pike | Rochon Sands | Alberta | ||
| Giant Cornstalks | Taber | Alberta | ||
| Giant Pinecone | St. Albert | Alberta | ||
| Giant Walleye | Shaw's Point | Alberta | ||
| Giant Crow | Bellevue | Alberta | ||
| Giant Black Diamond | Turner Valley | Alberta | ||
| World’s Largest Fishing Lure | Lacombe | Alberta | ||
| Canada's Largest Turtle, "Ernie" | Turtleford | Saskatchewan | 1983[27] |
In popular culture
[edit]These attractions are referenced in the Kubasonics song "Giants of the Prairies".
The phenomenon was parodied in the sixth episode of the first season of Corner Gas, "World's Biggest Thing". Wherein one of the characters proposes the construction of the "world's biggest hoe" to draw in tourism to the town of Dog River, leaving some citizens unaware of the double entendre the name elicits.[28]
References
[edit]- ^ "Going big on the road". St. Albert Gazette. 2022-09-02. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Bee". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "World's Largest Bee". Mighty Peace Tourism. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Honey Bee". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ TChizma. "History of Barrhead". www.barrhead.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "Border Markers". www.lloydminster.ca. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider". Travel Alberta. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ Matejko, Agnieszka (2023-07-17). "Big Art, Big Smiles". Galleries West. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Curling Rock". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "Arborg, MB, Canada - World's Largest Curling Stone". RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "Did you know this about Portage la Prairie's iconic Coke can?". PortageOnline. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "Chuckwagon of Dewberry, Alberta". www.bigthings.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Fire Hydrant". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "Historic Sites of Manitoba: Elm Creek Fire Hydrant (Elm Creek, RM of Grey)". www.mhs.mb.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Animated Grizzly Bear". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "Giant metal bear mascot a dream come true". Red Deer Advocate. 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ Dalene (2017-07-17). "Travelling in Alberta: An Offbeat Roadside Attractions Road Trip". Hecktic Travels. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
- ^ "World's Largest Golf Tee". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "World's Largest Tee – Town of Trochu". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "The World's Largest Sausage". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "Andrew, AB, Canada - World's Largest Mallard Duck". RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ^ "World's Largest Oil Can". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "World's Largest Railroad Spike". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "Canada's biggest baseball bat arrives home in Battleford | CBC News".
- ^ "Alberta's Premier Village: Village of Heisler".
- ^ "World's Largest Dragonfly". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "Don Foulds biography". Saskatchewan Network for Art Collecting. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
- ^ Paquet, Laura Byrne (1 January 2007). Wanderlust: A Social History of Travel. Goose Lane Editions. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-86492-606-7. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
But perhaps the most outrageous roadside statue ever proposed was never actually built. In probably my favourite episode of the sitcom Corner Gas, a small group of civic-minded souls in fictitious Dog river, Saskatchewan, are sitting in the local diner brainstorming ideas for a new roadside attraction that will inspire drivers to stop in the little town. What's unique about Dog river? they ask each other. Well, it's a rural community, so they decide their "world's biggest thing" should be a farm implement. they discuss various options and finally settle on a hoe. But it shouldn't be a shiny, new-looking hoe, someone says. Dog river is a hardworking town, after all. It should have clumps of earth on it and look as though it's been well used. What the town needs, the mayor's grandmother concludes, is "a big dirty cracked hoe."
- Travel Alberta. "Unusual Attractions". Archived from the original on 2007-08-05. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- Big Things
- Alberta Big Tour
- World's Largest and Large Things, Google map
- Canada's Largest Baseball Glove