A Brief History of the Clawson Chicken

A giant fiberglass chicken has sat atop a building on Main Street in Clawson since 1959, originally installed by a broasted-chicken restaurant called Faym-Us Chicken. The statue has outlasted multiple restaurant tenants and received a fresh paint job in 1989. It's become woven into local lore—Clawson residents share memories of climbing on it in high school, moving it to rival football fields as pranks, and snapping family photos. The city government has even made it clear that any new business owner can't remove it.

The chicken is one of several fiberglass animal sculptures created by Ben Robinson's Plycrete Mold Company, which operated in Elk Rapids from the 1940s through early '90s and produced roadside attractions across northern Michigan. Robinson's work also includes a giant cow head that famously appeared in the movie 8 Mile and donkeys at old hamburger stands. Today, the Clawson chicken remains a source of genuine community pride—the historical museum curator notes residents are deeply attached to it as one of the last landmarks defining the city's character.