We first visited this Santa three years ago but updated Street View imagery gives us a much better look at the bright red 12m tall Saint Nick who is in the process of making his list, and checking it twice. This blog post gives a fascinating glimpse at its origins in Seattle.

Heading to Oxnard, California, we find only the top-half of a Santa who has apparently got a bad headache, judging by the hand position and big frown on his face. Maybe all the cookies, milk and glasses of whisky were too much for him? As vigilant as ever, Google has blurred the faces of the accompanying nutcrackers to protect their identities.

This 6m tall Kris Kringle is actually quite a venerable specimen, having spent 50 years on the top of a candy store before being moved to his current location eight years ago. Read the full story in this blog post or this LA Times article, which includes a slideshow.

The state of Indiana seems to have a particularly fondness for Santa Claus. We first visited the town that bears his name back in 2008, but neglected to show the large statue that sits outside the town hall, surrounded by festive red benches.

Two separate can be spotted (one standing, one sitting) outside a hotel, while on the outskirts of town is a much older statue; in fact it is claimed to be the oldest Santa statue in the world.

It dates to 1935, shortly after the town’s residents realised they lived in a locale with a name that could be exploited for commercial gain. Originally thought to be 7 metres of solid granite, time and weathering have revealed that it is in fact made of concrete! Unfortunately it is too far from the road for early Street Views to give a good view.

Not quite so blurry is the 11m tall Father Christmas found an hour’s drive to the west in Haubstadt.

Roadside America reports that the surrounding derelict buildings have been demolished, leading to fears that this Santa may disappear before too long.

Many businesses adorn their premises with statues of Santa, though generally they’re not quite as disturbing as this one in Fresno, California.

Finally, just to prove that it’s not just the US that has giant Santa statues, in Lyngen, Norway, a large Julenissen² overlooks the harbour.

If you know of any other giant Santa statues please post them in the comments.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Google Sightseeing!

Locations: Alaska, California, Indiana, Norway /

View in Google Earth

Unlike the rest of the world, most auto racing in the United States takes place not on road circuits, but on oval speedways contained inside a seated stadium. Almost everyone has heard of legendary oval circuits such as Indianapolis and Daytona, but across the country literally thousands of local speedways dot the landscape.

Take Longhorn Speedway on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. Opened in 1960 as Austin Speed-O-Rama, the quarter-mile track has been dilapidating for over a decade; though not quite long enough to obscure the Budweiser advert on the start-finish line. A few years ago rumours suggested the overgrown facility was purchased by Sandra Bullock and her motorhead ex-husband, but if true, nothing ever came of it.

Lakeside Speedway in Denver, Colorado hosted hundreds of thousands of race fans from 1938 until 1988 – when economic factors and an unfortunate spectator death combined to cause the facility to be shut down. Today, the cracked pavement and ruined grandstands remain, along with a number of cars left on the track.

Middle Georgia Raceway was open for just five years (1966-1971) before it met its demise. Not only was the track home to four top-level NASCAR races during its short life, but it also played host to the 1970 Atlanta International Pop Festival where legends such as Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and Jethro Tull played to an estimated 500,000 people, which to this day ranks as one of the largest concerts in rock history.

While stock car racing has long been popular in the south, the ‘national pastime’ of the United States is usually considered to be baseball¹. One of the most difficult ballparks to play in was Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, home to the Pirates from 1909 to 1970. In the old confines, hitting a home run was a very hard thing to accomplish. Today it’d be pretty easy, as only the outside wall (including the distance markers) remains; most of the structure having been damaged in a 1971 fire. The ball diamond that exists today actually lies beyond the old Forbes outfield, which was on the other side of the wall.

Tiger Stadium was the legendary home of the Detroit Tigers from 1912 to 1999. Despite public outcry and nearly a decade of petition from the general public to preserve the old ballpark, the stadium was finally demolished in 2009, leaving just the field of play and the iconic flagpole behind centre field. Street View shows the pile of rubble left behind by the wrecking crews.

In St. Louis, there have been three separate venues named Busch Stadium. The second Busch closed in 2005, with the third Busch built next door in the old car park. The superstructure of Busch II was removed, and the field was redeveloped as a softball field as in Forbes Field; the rest serves as – you guessed it – the new Busch car park.

Not to be confused with St. Louis’ Busch Stadium is Indianapolis’ Bush Stadium. Built in 1931 for baseball, Bush was converted into a dirt track speedway in 1997 before being abandoned completely in 1999. Like the other Busch, we see that Bush is now also apparently a parking lot, though in a much more depressing sense. Bing Maps’ bird’s-eye view has an even less-flattering view of the derelict structure.

We end our abandoned stadium tour with a stadium that never even made it to completion. In 1986, the city of Sacramento wanted a baseball stadium to complement the ARCO Arena (now Power Balance Pavilion), the home of the NBA’s Kings. While the playing field was dug out, only the foundation of the stadium was ever built.

Today, the unfinished ballpark, rimmed by trees, forms an oasis in the middle of the Pavilion car park. Literally – when it rains, it fills with water!

Read part one of our abandoned stadium tour: Abandoned Stadiums of Europe, South America, and Africa.

Locations: California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas / Categories: Abandoned, Stadiums and Sport

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10. Smackover, Arkansas: Claims to have the only “center of the road” traffic light in Arkansas!

9. French Lick, Indiana: Former home of Pluto Water, a laxative with the slogan “When Nature Won’t, PLUTO Will”!

8. Tightwad, Missouri: Supposedly named by a postman following an incident involving a watermelon and an extra fifty cents!

7. Climax, Minnesota: The actual town motto is “Climax – More than just a feeling”!

6. Gayville, South Dakota: Conveniently located in Yankton County!

5. Cumming, Georgia: Nicknamed the “Gateway to Leisure Living”!

4. Horneytown, North Carolina: Be sure to get the t-shirt!

3. Big Bone Lick State Park, Kentucky: Accessable by taking a ride on Beaver Road!

2. Hooker, Oklahoma: Home to the Horny Toads baseball team!

1. Cooter, Missouri: No, not because of the Dukes of Hazzard character!

Honorable mentions by popular request – Hell, Michigan and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico!

For similar GSS stories, be sure to check out Top 10 Rudest Place Names in Britain, Top 10 des noms de villes grossiers en France, Top 10 Unanständigste Ortsamen in Deutschland, Top Ten Confusing Place Names, and Longest Place Names.

Locations: Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, U.S. States / Categories: Weirdness

View in Google Earth

There are tons of these decorated roofs all over the Midwestern United States, but today we’ll be limiting ourselves to ones found in Indiana, because otherwise we’d be here forever.

Based purely on the number of roofs that depict cows, I’m going to guess that there are a lot of dairy farmers in Indiana. They’re also pretty big on pigs too.

The number of properties featuring horses is pretty impressive, but there are probably even more depictions of a more modern type of workhorse, the tractor.

You know, I think I’m starting to see some common themes here. Is anyone else getting a farmyard vibe? Oh look, another tractor. Except this time, it says “MAKIN BACON”! Cool.

People do seem to have eventually started to get slightly more adventurous however, as these two roofs demonstrate through their use of “scenery”.

Of course there are occasional properties where the owners have promoted some different species, such as ducks, chickens, and deer.

Actually that’s not all, mustn’t forget the multi-coloured llamas.

It seems that some people have recognised that there isn’t much original work happening in the Indiana roof-art scene, which may explain this excellent bit of Disney copyright infringement.

Presumably this next one was also created in the name of art – unless they really do breed Unicorns round these parts?

For more roof art than you could possibly imagine, check out Ohio Barns.com. Thanks to Adriano and Felippo.

Previously on Google Sightseeing: Happy Magic Rainbow Unicorn.

Locations: Indiana / Categories: Buildings, Large Type

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Over here in Ireland and the UK, we have been known to celebrate with vast quantities of Guinness. Over in the US however, they like large scale annual celebrations involving crazy things like temporarily dying the Chicago River green (which sadly hasn’t yet been captured on Google Earth²).

But in today’s post we’ll be looking at some of the places that St. Patrick has found a permanent home in the USA.

This is St Patrick’s park in Indiana, where they have created a 400 metre long homage to their namesake, entirely in the medium of trees. Which is apt, given how much of the colour green gets bandied around on the 17th of March.

We’ve visited the original Dublin already on Google Sightseeing, but there are at least nine cities called Dublin in the USA alone!

See for yourself: Dublin, California; Dublin, Georgia; Dublin, Indiana; Dublin, New Hampshire; Dublin, North Carolina; Dublin, Ohio; Dublin, Pennsylvania; Dublin, Texas; and Dublin, Virginia.

In New York City we find St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a spectacular Neo-Gothic cathedral in midtown Manhattan that has become ingrained in Hollywood movie history, after being featured in several movies including 2002′s Spider-Man.

So, where else has St. Patrick and the influence of Ireland made a lasting impression around the world?

Happy Paddy’s day!

Thanks to Chris R.

Locations: California, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia / Categories: Buildings, Large Type, Movie Locations

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Originally named Santa Fe, the town had to change its name in 1856 when it applied for a post office only to discover that there was already another town with that name in the state. Wanting to keep the first part of the name, Santa Claus was the only thing the citizens could think of, though this history has since been embellished with tales of small children, snowy evenings and sleigh bells.

The town exploits its name as much as possible, with streets (Mistletoe Drive, Candy Cane Lane, not to mention a road for each of the reindeer), lakes (Christmas, Holly and Noel) and entire subdivisions (Christmas Lake Village, Holiday Village) following the theme.

Holiday World is North America’s oldest themed amusement park, having opened in 1946 as Santa Claus Land. The name now reflects the move to celebrate holidays (and attract visitors) throughout the year. The park includes numerous rollercoasters and other rides, as well as the Splashin’ Safari waterpark, with the world’s largest enclosed water slide.

The post office mentioned earlier (which is now located in a small mall, complete with Santa outside) came to notice in 1914 when the postmaster James Martin started to answer letters addressed to Santa Claus. Today, a team of volunteers respond to around 10,000 letters sent to Santa Claus from children around the world. The Santa Claus Museum is a couple of doors down.

Locations: Indiana / Categories: Buildings, Natural Landmarks, Street Views, Theme Parks

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The 1/16 scale models include a V-22 Osprey, B-17 Flying Fortress, P-38 Lightning, C-130 Hercules and an Apache helicopter.

Mr Krohn (I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to call him “Tud”) started building these odd garden ornaments over 17 years ago but, so far, nobody has figured out exactly why…

More info from Fox41 and ground level pictures on RC Groups. Thanks to sixftjafp.

Locations: Indiana / Categories: Aircraft

View in Google Earth

And for what reason? Well, Sun Aura is a “clothing optional” holiday camp, and presumably a giant sundial is a useful feature for wristwatchless nudists… Which means there must be some naked people around here somewhere!

Thanks to Ken.

More at roadsideamerica.

Locations: Indiana / Categories: Rudeness, Shadows, Structures

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The 1st largest clock in the world is also the Colgate clock. This one replaced the above clock at the now defunct New Jersey offices, but after Colgate left the area in the 1980s it sits alone on the waterfront.

The claims of “largest in the world” for each is disputable, and both clocks are facing an uncertain future as developers move into each area.

The similarities don’t end there – after the Indiana clock starred in the 1999 film The Insider, the New Jersey clock starred in the 2006 flick Inside Man. Spooky.

Thanks: Ironguts & James

Wikipedia: Indiana Clock & New Jersey Clock

Locations: Indiana, New Jersey / Categories: Large Type, Movie Locations, Structures

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Thanks to “Me”.

Locations: Indiana / Categories: Buildings, Large Type

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