Paul Bunyan in Maine: Was He Born in Bangor?

Paul Bunyan was a folk hero, not a real person, and sources disagree about where he came from. Bangor, Maine claims him as its native son and has a 31-foot statue to prove it. Minnesota, Michigan and Canada have competing claims. Jump to where he was born, who created him, the Bangor statue or why sources disagree.

Was Paul Bunyan born in Maine?

Nobody can say, because he is a character from logging-camp tall tales. What can be said is who claims him:

• Bangor, Maine. Yankee magazine reports that a City Hall “birth certificate” lists February 12, 1834, the date Bangor became a city, as his birthday, and says Bangor has perhaps the oldest and most legitimate claim.
• Maine more broadly. The Bangor Public Library page quotes a 1945 retelling by Louis Untermeyer: some of the old people say he was born in Maine. The same retelling says others name Minnesota or Michigan, and some say the pine woods of Canada.
• Many states. Atlas Obscura says several states claim him, “from Maine to Minnesota.”
• Canada. Atlas Obscura says he was created by Canadian loggers in the early 1880s.

Bangor’s claim rests on its history. It was a major lumber port in the 1800s, and the maine.com visitor guide says plainly that the claim is based on that history, not on any proof of his origin. See our history of Bangor for the lumber story.

Who really created Paul Bunyan?

The sources tell the story in different ways, so here are the pieces with who says what:

1. Early 1880s: Atlas Obscura says Canadian loggers created the character. Some historians link him to a French-Canadian logger named Fabian Fournier, and others to a logger named Paul Bunyon in Canada’s Papineau Rebellion of 1837.
2. Before 1910: Britannica says some of the stories were recorded from oral folklore, and suggests that lumbermen in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the Northwest knew of Bunyan before 1910.
3. July 24, 1910: Britannica names James MacGillivray’s “The Round River Drive,” in the Detroit News-Tribune, as his earliest appearance in print.
4. 1914 to 1944: Britannica says W.B. Laughead, a Minnesota advertising man, introduced Paul to a general audience in pamphlets used to promote the Red River Lumber Company. Atlas Obscura says a 1914 pamphlet popularized him, and the maine.com guide says 1916 booklets did.

So the character most likely grew out of oral tales in several logging regions, and advertising copy turned him into a national figure.

The Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor

The statue stands at 519 Main Street in Bangor beside Bass Park, according to the maine.com guide. It was part of the celebration of the city’s 125th anniversary in 1959. Here is what the sources agree on:

• Height: 31 feet, or 37 feet including the stone base (Yankee and maine.com).
• Weight: about 3,700 pounds (Yankee and maine.com).
• Materials: fiberglass over a metal frame (Atlas Obscura), with wood as well according to Yankee and maine.com.
• Designer: Bangor artist J. Normand Martin, who made a 22-inch wire-and-clay mock-up and was paid $137 for it (Yankee and maine.com).
• Unveiling: February 12, 1959, Bangor’s birthday, per the Bangor Public Library page.
• Time capsule: sealed December 31, 1959 and scheduled to be opened February 12, 2084, according to maine.com. Yankee gives the same opening date.
• Stephen King: the statue appears in his novel It; see our Stephen King in Bangor guide.

One more detail from Yankee: the statue’s four-foot swing hook went missing for two and a half years before police found it behind a house in Bangor. Visiting is free, outdoors, with no gate or set hours, and the maine.com guide calls it a five-minute photo stop. For more to do nearby, see our things to do in Bangor guide.

Why the sources disagree

• Who paid for the statue. The Bangor Public Library page says a committee raised the money, maine.com says a local committee raised roughly $20,000 and had the statue built in New York, and Atlas Obscura says a New York group of builders gave it to the city. We have not found a source that settles it.
• Which year popularized him. Atlas Obscura says 1914. The maine.com guide says 1916. Britannica says Laughead’s pamphlets ran from 1914 to 1944.
• Whether Bangor’s claim is legitimate. Yankee calls it perhaps the oldest and most legitimate of the claims. The maine.com guide says Paul Bunyan was never a real person and that the claim rests on Bangor’s lumber history.
• “Largest in the world.” Atlas Obscura says the statue claims to be the largest Paul Bunyan statue in the world but that this is hard to verify. We have not verified it either.

Paul Bunyan in Maine: FAQ

Was Paul Bunyan born in Maine?

Bangor, Maine claims him, but he was a folk character, so nobody can say. Minnesota, Michigan and Canada have competing claims. See who claims him.

Was Paul Bunyan a real person?

No. He is a character from logging-camp tall tales. Some historians link him to real loggers in Canada, but those links are not settled. See who created him.

Where is the Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor?

At 519 Main Street in Bangor, beside Bass Park, according to the maine.com guide.

How tall is the Bangor Paul Bunyan statue?

31 feet, or 37 feet including its stone base, and about 3,700 pounds.

When is Paul Bunyan’s birthday in Bangor?

February 12, the date Bangor became a city in 1834, according to Yankee and maine.com.

Our details come from the Bangor Public Library, Atlas Obscura (statue page), Britannica, Yankee magazine and the maine.com visitor guide. Accounts of the legend’s origin vary by source.