Bison statue on Time.com list

What does Graceland Too in Holy Springs, Miss., the Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue in Plains, Ga., and the World’s Largest Buffalo have in common?

All have found spots on Time.com’s Top 50 American Roadside Attractions list.

“It’s exciting and kind of overwhelming,” said Nina Sneider, executive director of the Buffalo City Tourism Foundation.

The list is in no particular order and showcases nostalgic attractions from Texas to Alaska.

It cites the National Buffalo Museum and Frontier Village as things to do when visiting the World’s Largest Buffalo, recently named Dakota Thunder.

Sneider reported strong numbers for this summer’s tourism season in Jamestown to The Sun on Tuesday, including 3,000 visitors the day of the name dedication ceremony.

“We’re feeling pretty pleased with what’s happened this summer and hopefully we’re seeing the economic impact of it in Jamestown as well,” she said.

Jamestown’s bison statue is 26 feet tall, 46 feet long and weighs in at 60 tons of concrete.

Other regional attractions on the list include the Paul Bunyan Statue in Bemidji, Minn., the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, S.D. and the Porter Sculpture Park in Montrose, S.D.

The whole list can be viewed at this address: http://tinyurl.com/2v7v8kf

The World’s Largest Buffalo was also recently named the third best roadside attraction by Reader’s Digest in its Best of American 2010: Readers Choice poll.

“To have two such well read publications to recognize not only Jamestown but the World’s Largest Buffalo is something nobody ever thought would happen,” Sneider said.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455

or by e-mail at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, tourism, buffalo, fccnetwork