Cow Statues: USA Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chicago

Chicago was the first, back in 1999. They held another one to celebrate the 20th anniversary. Houston had one in 2001, Atlanta in 2003 and Denver in 2006.

The following US cities are among places which have had a Cow Parade:

2000: NYC, Stamford CT, West Orange NJ
2001: Kansas City, Houston
2002: Portland OR, Las Vegas
2003: Atlanta, San Antonio, West Hartford CT
2004: Harrisburg PA
2006: Boston, Denver
2007: West Hartford CT
2009: La Jolla CA, Flushing NY
2011: Austin
2014: Detroit

Answer: Neilsville

Wisconsin, America's Dairyland, has no shortage of cow statues, including Chatty Belle, which boasts that it is the largest talking cow statue in the world. She can be found in Neilsville, which is in Clark County near the center of Wisconsin.

Charry Belle is 16 feet high at the shoulders and 20 feet long, seven times the size of an average Holstein cow. She was part of the Wisconsin exhibition at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. For more on Chatty Belle: www.worldslargestthings.com/wisconsin/chattybelle.htm

DeForest, located in Dane County, is home to Sissy, which is roughly the same size as Chatty Belle, but does not speak. Janesville has Bessie the Cow, and Cedar Crest Ice Cream in Manitowac has Betsy the Cow. Plymouth, Wisconsin has Antoinette. And Thorp, Wisconsin has a dozen cow statues.

Answer: 38 feet high

Salem Sue is 38 feet high and 50 feet long. The statue was put up by the local Lions Club in 1974 at a cost of $40,000. The town is proud of its dairy heritage, and the local high school team is known as the Holsteins.

New Salem is about 30 miles west of Bismarck. Take Interstate 94 and get off at Exit 127. The cow statue is just off N Street on School Hill Road.

Answer: 1920

Carnation, Washington is a fairly small community about an hour east of Seattle. In the 1920s, it was home to Carnation Farms, which was conducting an experiment on increasing milk production by creating "contented cows".

The cow that set the record was Segis Pietertje Prospect, who was nicknamed "Possum Sweetheart." Over the course of 1920, she produced 37,381 pounds of milk, shattering the old record of 33,425 pounds. At the time, the average cow was producing 4000 pounds of milk annually. Segis became internationally famous, and celebrities such as boxer Jack Dempsey actually visited to see the celebrity cow.

Carnation is 30 miles almost directly due east of Seattle, and can be reached on Washington Highway 202. The statue is near the entrance to Carnation Farm, at 28901 NE Carnation Farm Road, a few miles west of Highway 203.

Answer: Harmilda

Harmilda is the mascot of Harvard Milk Day, a dairy festival held in Harvard since 1966. One of Harvard's civic claims is "Milk Capital of the World." The festival is usually held in early June.

The statue has a mural of cows behind it as well. It is located at the intersection of US Highway 14, Illinois Highway 173 and Ayer Street. Harvard is about 30 miles northeast of Rockford, and is the first major town on Highway 14 after crossing the Wisconsin border. It can be reached from Chicago via Metra Train.

Answer: Columbus

Kadie the Cow was first erected in 1967 as an advertising mascot for Kinnett Dairy (KD). The dairy shut down years ago and was replaced by a Best Buy, but the cow statue stayed in place. After fifty years as part of the city landscape, members of the City Council declared Kadie a historic landmark.

Columbus, Georgia is roughly 100 miles southwest of Atlanta, and lies on the Georgia-Alabama border. The statue is at 2925 Manchester Expressway, on the city's northeast side, directly south of the airport.

The Cow statue in Savannah stands in front of Keller's Flea Market. It was previously located at a BBQ restaurant. The 15 foot tall cow wears a hat, a ring on her tail, earrings, a watch, and ankle bracelet. She also has an "I Love Fleas" shopping bag tied around her neck

The cow statue in Ashburn is near the Dairy Queen just off Interstate 75, at Exit 84.

Maggie the Jersey Cow was at the visitors center of the Mayfield Dairy in Braselton for many years. Unfortunately, the dairy closed down in the summer of 2018.

Answer: Moo-La

The cow in Stephenville is named Moo-La. It honors Erath County as the "Number one Dairy County in Texas." The statue was erected September 23, 1972 in front of the Erath County Courthouse. In 1972, dairy farming was a $10 million industry in the county.

Stephensville is roughly 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The statue is on US Highway 377, the main east-west drag in town. For some of the story, see https://www.stephenvilletexas.org/moo-la

Answer: Bellflower

Bellflower placed Belle the Cow, a somewhat skinny bronze statue painted to look like a Holstein, in 2013. It was designed by Carol Gold. Bellflower is about midway between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach. The cow can be seen at 10209 Flora Vista, just west of Woodruff Street.

Buena Vista was a farming community, and is the current site of Knott's Berry Farm amusement park. Compton was the site of one of the largest cattle ranches in California in the 19th century. Whittier was a farming area when Richard Nixon was born there.

Other notable cow statues in California include the Adohr Milkmaid in Tulare, and the cow on the former McConnell's Ice Cream Plant in Santa Barbara.

Answer: Denver Art Museum

The cow statue by Colorado artist Dan Ostermiller is at the Art Museum, and has been on display since 2001. It is located on the outside grounds of the museum. The museum is at 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, about a block south of Civic Center Park. The statue commemorates Denver's history as a major cattle center.

The State Capitol and History Center are within blocks of the Art Museum. Union Station is about one mile north, along 17th Street.

Answer: Sherborn

Emily was a real cow who escaped from a slaughterhouse in Hopkinton in 1995 and managed to evade capture for forty days in the vicinity of Sherborn. She was purchased by the Randa family and lived out the remainder of her days in safety at Peace Abbey.

Emily died of cancer in March, 2003 and was buried at the abbey between statues of Mother Teresa and Mohandas Gandhi. Artist Lado Goudjabidze created a life-sized statue of Emily which was dedicated in April 2005.

Sherborn is abut 25 miles southwest of Boston, on Massachusetts Hwy 27. The Peace Abbey is at 2 North Main Street, near the center of town.