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Illinois Statues (page 4)

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Bicyclist
Port Byron, IL
This 30-foot-tall Bicyclist riding a penny-farthing was created by FAST Fiberglass and installed in 2013. He is named "Will B. Rolling." There is an identical statue in Sparta, WI which was also produced by FAST in 1997. [map]

Rockmen Guardians
Rockford, IL
The Rockmen Guardians were built from 1987-1988 by Terese Agnew. The four statues are about 12 feet tall and made of granite rocks and cement. They are located in a park next to the Rock River. [map]

Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial
Springfield, IL
 Illinois Fallen Police Officers Memorial
Springfield, IL
The Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial was installed in 1999. The bronze sculptures were created by Neil Brodin. [map]

The Illinois Fallen Police Officers Memorial was installed in 1990. The bronze sculptures were created by Keith Knoblock. [map]

Universal Muffler Man
Springfield, IL
This Universal Muffler Man sculpture was created around 2023 for the Illinois Route 66 Experience at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. It was built by the Ace Sign Co. from metal hoops and holds a neon flag. The sculpture is meant to represent the statues that were produced by International Fiberglass and installed on Route 66 and all over the country. Its design was also influenced by the POPS Soda Bottle in Arcadia, OK. [map]

Revolutionary Soldier [gone]
St. Charles, IL (now Pingree Grove, IL)
The Revolutionary Soldier is 18 feet tall and holds a 14-foot-long musket. The statue was carved from a fallen oak tree by the store's owner. It was completed in 1976 as a bicentennial memorial. The Soldier was installed in front of Custom Furniture. The photos above are from 2012. In 2014, it was announced that the store was closing. In 2017, the statue and chair were disassembled and moved to Pingree Grove, IL where they were to be restored. In 2020, the chair was restored and the statue was still being worked on. Howeer, there has been no information about this statue since then. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

More St. Charles:
Humpty Dumpty

Ironworker
Steeleville, IL

This Ironworker sculpture was installed in front of the United Ironworkers building sometime after 2018. [map]

Pizza Chef
Stockton, IL
Vince's Pizza
Rochelle, IL
The Pizza Chef in Stockton is installed in front of the Bottle Shed Bar & Liquor Store. The Bottle Shed is also a restaurant and sells pizza. This statue came from a pizzeria in Freeport, IL. It was moved here around 1996. In 2005, the statue had red and white striped pants and a white coat. This is the original head style for these pizza chef statues. For more, see this website. [map]

Vince's Pizza opened in 1967. The restaurant purchased its 11-foot-tall "Pizza Man" statue around 1971. According to the owner, a traveling salesman stopped by Vince's one day in a Wienermobile. The vehicle contained catalogs and numerous statues. The salesman may have been with Sculptured Advertising from Sparta, WI. Vince Cassola, the owner of Vince's Pizza, didn't care for the design of the chef statue in the catalog. He felt that the face looked more Mexican than Italian. So, the fiberglass company produced a new head with a rather frightening face. [map]

This modified head also appears on the chef statue at Tony's Pizza in Ocean City, MD. There was also another statue like this at the Goody Goody Diner in St. Louis, MO from 1975-1988. [St. Louis photo thanks Greg Rhomberg]

Other known pizza chef statues of this type with original heads are located in Essex, MD, Hendersonville, NC, Rutherfordton, NC (gone), Hartford, MI, Albert Lea, MN (gone), and Lebanon, TN. There is a somewhat similar Pizza Chef statue in St. Clairsville, OH.

Mr. Pumpkin
Sycamore, IL
Mr. Pumpkin was the nickname of Wally Thurow who founded the Sycamore Pumpkin Fest in 1962. This life-sized, bronze sculpture of him wearing his signature top hat and coat was designed by David Seagraves and installed in 2014. The high wheel bicycle was cast from the actual bicycle that he rode during Pumpkin Fest. [map]

John F. Kennedy
Taylorville, IL
This eight-foot-tall, marble sculpture of John F. Kennedy is installed in Oak Hill Cemetery. Just after his assassination in 1963, the sculpture was commissioned and produced in Italy. . Kennedy was buried in Virginia.

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