Williamsburg, Virginia

The President Heads: Virginia's Crumbling Giants of Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

By the Wicked Cool Places editors · Published Wed, Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Fri, Aug 28, 2026

Why it’s cool

Dozens of towering, 20,000-pound presidential busts stand in a state of eerie decay on a private farm, saved from destruction by a contractor who couldn't bear to crush the art.

Southeast Hidden Gem

Large, crumbling concrete busts of U.S. presidents stand in a field under a clear blue sky.

Deep in the Virginia countryside, forty-two massive concrete faces stare blankly across a private field, their once-stately features now cracked and weathered by the elements. These eighteen-to-twenty-foot-tall busts were never meant to end up as a graveyard of political icons, but today they form one of the most surreal sights in the American South.

Originally part of a grand open-air museum, these crumbling monoliths now rest on a family farm, serving as a hollowed-out reminder of a failed roadside attraction. The Abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire is another example of a themed attraction left to the elements.

Why It Stands Out

Sculptor David Adickes conceived the project after a trip to Mount Rushmore left him frustrated by the distance between the viewer and the stone faces. He wanted people to look the leaders in the eye.

To ensure accuracy, Adickes even studied the backs of heads in movie theaters to capture the nuances of aging hairlines. Interestingly, the busts are not uniform in height; they were scaled according to historical rankings of greatness.

The "great" presidents stand about a foot taller than those deemed "average" or "failures." When the original $10 million Presidents Park fell victim to the 2008 recession, contractor Howard Hankins was ordered to demolish the statues. Refusing to destroy the art, he spent a week hauling the 20,000-pound monoliths to his family property.

The relocation was brutal; forklifts punched holes through the backs of the skulls, leaving them scarred, though their piercing gazes remain remarkably intact.

Before You Go

The farm is private property and strictly off-limits to uninvited visitors. Security measures, including cameras, are actively monitored, and trespassing is prosecuted.

The only legal way to see these crumbling giants is through organized events. Similar historical curiosities can be found throughout Williamsburg.

Local photographer John Plashal periodically coordinates authorized tours, which provide the only legitimate access to the site.

Questions worth answering

Can we just drive up and see them?

The farm is strictly private property and uninvited guests aren't welcome. Security cameras are always watching, so don't risk a trespassing charge.

How do we get inside legally?

Authorized tours are the only way in. Keep an eye on John Plashal's website, as he's the photographer who coordinates these rare visits.

Why are some of the statues taller than others?

David Adickes didn't make them uniform. He scaled the heights based on how historians ranked each leader's legacy, making the great ones a foot taller.

What happened to the backs of their heads?

Moving forty-two massive busts wasn't a delicate process. Forklifts had to punch through the concrete skulls to haul them to this field.

Visit Snapshot

This site is located on private property and is not open for public walk-ins. Security and cameras are in place to prevent trespassing, which is strictly prosecuted.

To visit legally, look for scheduled tours offered by photographer John Plashal, who occasionally coordinates access for small groups.

Location

Williamsburg, Virginia

Know before you go

Note the farm is private property and not open to visitors. Cameras and security have been updated recently.

Any unknown visitors may be prosecuted. Local photographer John Plashal occasionally offers tours of the heads, you can find more information on his website.

Editorial source

President Heads

What do you do when you have dozens of 20-foot-tall busts of nearly every U.S. president and nowhere to put them? This was the problem that Howard Hankins faced in 2010, after Presidents Park in Williamsburg, Virginia —where the giant busts had been on display—closed down.

The statues were sculpted by Houston artist David Adickes . In 1994, he was commissioned to sculpt a 67-foot tall statue of Sam Houston, the city’s namesake and former governor and president of Texas.

Adickes’ favorite part of the project was sculpting the head, especially the eyes. Adickes took a roadtrip in the middle of the project to visit friends in Canada.

On the way home, he visited Mount Rushmore, and was disappointed with how he couldn’t see into their eyes. This inspired him to sculpt a set of all the presidents’ heads on a smaller scale.

They’re not all exactly the same size, however. Adickes decided the size of each bust according to a survey of historians on how well the presidents did in office.

He divided them into three categories: great, average, and failures. According to the survey, there were eight great presidents, two failures (Ulysses S.

Grant and Warren G. Harding), and the rest were average.

Adickes made the busts of the average presidents all the same size, and the eight great presidents about a foot taller. To get an idea of how the backs of their heads might look, Adickes frequented the movie theater and studied the backs of older men’s heads.

Upon completion, Adickes moved the busts to Williamsburg, Virginia, where entrepreneur Everette H. “Haley” Newman II put around $10 million into the creation of the open air museum Presidents Park. In 2004, the heads were open to the public alongside the Presidential Pet Museum .

The park never took off, however, and when the economy plunged into a recession in 2008, the park shut down. Contractor Howard Hankins, who’d assisted in building the park, was hired to destroy the busts.

Instead, Hankins adopted all 42 heads and lugged them back to his private family farm 11 miles up the road for safekeeping. With each bust weighing as much as 20,000 pounds, it took nearly a week to move them all, and the backs of the heads were destroyed when they were transported by forklift to the farm.

The eyes, however, remain intact. For years the giant heads have sat tucked away on the farm, which is private property and not open to tourists.

There is a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to relocate the statues to a place where they can be visited by all. A short documentary, called All the Presidents’ Heads , showcases the heads and Hankins’ efforts.

The President Heads: Virginia's Crumbling Giants of Williamsburg

Why it’s cool

Why It Stands Out

Before You Go

Questions worth answering

Can we just drive up and see them?

How do we get inside legally?

Why are some of the statues taller than others?

What happened to the backs of their heads?

More in Southeast

Abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire

Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo

Museum of Death