Brice Baughman’s “The Statues”—Zanesville
Baughman (1874-1954) was from Black Run, Ohio. He was a stonecarver who created sandstone monuments and sculptural pieces in the deep wood of his farm near Jackson Township in Muskingun County, Ohio. He taught himself to carve animals and people from the hard rock there; a massive sandstone formation with only a shallow covering of soil. He made his first statue in 1898, that of President William McKinley. Baughman, two sons, and a nephew cleared the ground around the statues and scattered picnic tables amongst them. The day the last statue was dedicated, more than 3,000 cars passed through the park to see the site. The sculptures are still there, and there are current activities to make them more accessible.
Remembering the Brice Baughman Statues
Dear Weird OH,
I remember as a child driving through the park with Brice Baughman’s Statues staring down at my car. I always felt they were bigger than life and perhaps, due to their remote area in the woods, always expected them to climb off their podiums and into the woods where they would wreck havoc on the local country folk.