Paul Bunyan Land
Encyclopedia
Paul Bunyan Land is an amusement park located in Brainerd
, Minnesota
, on This Old Farm. Its trademark is the 26 feet (7.9 m) animated and talking statue of Paul Bunyan
. As children enter, Paul welcomes them by name. The amusement park has 27 rides for children and is surrounded by 30 buildings.
The park, originally known as Paul Bunyan Center, was founded in 1950 in Baxter
, Minnesota, by Sherm Levis. It was built around the statue of Paul that Levis and Roy Kuemicheal had purchased the previous year. The park grew over time to include over 40 rides. In 2003, the park announced that due to the high cost of running the park, it would be closing and that everything would be auctioned off. Fortunately, a local family owned business named This Old Farm was interested in keeping the entire park and bought the statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox as well the rides. They moved the park onto their land six miles east of Brainerd on State Highway 18
.
Brainerd, Minnesota
Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,590 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County and one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, on This Old Farm. Its trademark is the 26 feet (7.9 m) animated and talking statue of Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a lumberjack figure in North American folklore and tradition. One of the most famous and popular North American folklore heroes, he is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill, and is often accompanied in stories by his animal companion, Babe the Blue...
. As children enter, Paul welcomes them by name. The amusement park has 27 rides for children and is surrounded by 30 buildings.
The park, originally known as Paul Bunyan Center, was founded in 1950 in Baxter
Baxter, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,555 people, 1,921 households, and 1,586 families residing in the city. The population density was 320.7 people per square mile . There were 1,979 housing units at an average density of 114.3 per square mile...
, Minnesota, by Sherm Levis. It was built around the statue of Paul that Levis and Roy Kuemicheal had purchased the previous year. The park grew over time to include over 40 rides. In 2003, the park announced that due to the high cost of running the park, it would be closing and that everything would be auctioned off. Fortunately, a local family owned business named This Old Farm was interested in keeping the entire park and bought the statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox as well the rides. They moved the park onto their land six miles east of Brainerd on State Highway 18
Minnesota State Highway 18
Minnesota State Highway 18 is a highway in east-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 25 in Brainerd and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 23 in Finlayson Township near Askov and Sandstone...
.