Nikki
- Nov 28, 2020
- 2 min read

Eerie Abandon History found in Williamsburg, Virginia

“Abandonment is the act of getting rid of something. It’s how dogs become stray and children become orphaned. If abandonment is your greatest fear in life, make sure to surround yourself with loyal friends and treat them kindly.”

Howard Hankins couldn’t bare the thought of abandoning the miraculously designed, 22,000 pound (each) statues of 43 president heads.

The heads were designed and created by Everette Newman in 2004. They were once a local attraction at a now closed “Presidents Park.” The park closed in 2011, due to lack of visitors, location and lack of revenue.

Hankins was involved in the construction of the park, and didn’t want to see the statues become abandon or destroyed. He offered to remove the head statues off of the parks property and have them placed on his farm 10 miles away, where they currently reside on private property.

Hankins tried his best to save the statues, but they are slowly cracking, deteriorating and chipping away, but at least they are all surrounded by each other in their final years.

Upon walking to these gigantic heads, it’s very eerie to see these suited men starring back at you in the middle of a field...

I frequently travel back and forth to Virginia, passing through Richmond, Dumfries, Williamsburg to Hayes, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Its basically a straight shot for me from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania- about a four hour drive south. Preparing to find these monumental sized heads required some research from Google Earth & satellite. It was quite an adventure finding the place, and I did a bit of a trek through the woods at first, but then realized I might as well drive up to Hankins farm and ask to take pictures. To my surprise, they were doing a tour! A local photographer hosts the tours a few times a year, and has some great historic trivia Q & A’s.

If you’re ever near the eastern shore of Virginia, I highly recommend checking this out.... if they are still there!