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Arkansas Statues

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Oil Heritage Park
El Dorado, AR		 Doctor
Van Buren, AR
The Oil Heritage Park bronze statues are installed in front of a 12-foot-tall band wheel from the 1920s which was used for pumping oil. El Dorado was a booming oil town at that time. The two figures represent Charles Murphy and Chesley Pruet who were petroleum magnates. The third statue in the background represents Edwin Boyd Alderson, another local oil man. The statues were installed around 2016. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

This Doctor statue represents Douglas W. Parker, Jr. who dreamed of building the Sparks Regional Medical Center which is behind the statue. The statue was created by Deborah Gechter in 1997. [map]

Christ of the Ozarks
Eureka Springs, AR
The Christ of the Ozarks is seven stories tall and weight over two million pounds. His face is 15 feet tall and his arm-span is 65 feet. The statue is located on the grounds of The Great Passion Play complex. It was built from 1965-1966 by Emmett Sullivan. For more, see this website. [map]

Jo Jo [gone]
Helena, AR
Jo Jo, aka Spin Man, is the mascot for Pizza Inn. The chain was established in Dallas, TX in 1958. Locations were soon built in the Southeast and Southwest. Jo Jo was created in 1967 as a pizza-flipping, mustachioed chef. Dropped from the company's advertising for a decade or more, a more abstract version of the character was brought back in 2009. This Pizza Inn restaurant in West Helena had become a Pizza Pro when these photos were taken in 2010. The statue was later missing his red hat and mustache. I don't know of any other statues left like this one except for this similar version in a private collection in St. Louis, MO. In 2016, the building appeared to be empty but the statue was still there, leaning precariously. By 2019, the statue was gone. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

Popeye [gone]
Springdale, AR
2010: 2014:
This Popeye statue was produced by International Fiberglass in the 1960s. It was installed in front of the Allen Canning Company which produced Popeye brand spinach. In 2014, the statue was repainted and moved to Siloam Springs, AR. It stood in front of the Sager Creek Vegetable Company offices. Sager Creek bought out the Allen Canning Company. The business was sold in 2017 and the statue was removed. For more, see this website. [2014 photos in Siloam Springs thanks Beverly Watkins]

Popeye
Alma, AR
The Popeye statue in Alma is installed in a fountain in a tiny downtown park. Alma claims to be the spinach capital of the world. There was a painted fiberglass and paper mache statue built in 1987. It is believed that one was saved by the sculptor's widow. That statue was replaced with this bronze version in 2007. [map]

There are other Popeye statues in Crystal City, TX and Chester, IL. For more, see this website.

More Arkansas:
Little Caesars (North Little Rock)
Miner (Paris)

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