Entry No. 73 — the New York City file — filed under: history
The Cardiff Giant
This ten-foot 'petrified man' was secretly carved from gypsum, buried on a Cardiff, NY farm in 1868, and 'discovered' a year later, drawing thousands who paid to gawk at what some thought was a Biblical giant. It was a hoax cooked up by skeptic George Hull to mock Biblical literalists, and it became one of America's most famous swindles, even prompting P.T. Barnum to make a knockoff. The original now lies on display at Fenimore Farm & Country Village (formerly the Farmers' Museum) in Cooperstown.
The story
In 1868, a atheist cigar maker named George Hull got into a heated debate with a revivalist preacher over Genesis 6:4 ("There were giants in the earth in those days"). Amused by the idea that people would believe literally anything in print, Hull decided to orchestrate a legendary swindle. He bought a 3,000-pound block of Iowa gypsum, had a stonecutter carve it into a ten-foot naked man with crossed legs, and meticulously added fake skin pores using needle-covered sponges before aging the stone with acid. He then shipped the stone slab in a crate marked "machinery" to his cousin William Newell's farm in Cardiff, New York, where they buried it in a field and waited a year.
In October 1869, Newell hired two unsuspecting farmhands to dig a well in that precise spot. When their shovels struck stone, the spectacle exploded. Newell erected a tent over the ditch and began charging 50 cents a head to thousands of visitors who arrived by the wagonload. While local clergy hailed it as a petrified Biblical giant and scholars squabbled over its origins, Hull quietly sold his stake in the hoax for $37,500. The fraud was so lucrative that legendary showman P.T. Barnum offered to buy it; when Hull turned him down, Barnum simply hired his own sculptor to carve a copy and displayed it in New York City, boldly claiming Hull's original was the fake.
Today, the stone leviathan lies in an open-air exhibition shed at Fenimore Farm & Country Village in Cooperstown. Resting on a bed of gravel in its artificial pit, the ten-foot figure still wears the serene, stoic expression Hull carved into it. It remains one of the ultimate monuments to 19th-century American showmanship and gullibility.
What it's like
The giant rests inside a roofed wooden display area at Fenimore Farm & Country Village, just off NY-80 in Cooperstown. You'll need to purchase regular admission to the living-history museum grounds to see it, so give yourself enough time to wander past the historic buildings and blacksmith shop on your way to the exhibit. Standing above the gravel pit, you can view the giant from all sides and read the archival photos and details outlining Hull's scheme and Barnum's knockoff. Keep in mind the museum operates on seasonal hours and is a roughly 3.5- to 4-hour drive from New York City, so verify their operating schedule before making the trek.
The move: Visit the Farmers' Museum to stand over the reclining stone giant and read the story of the 19th-century hoax that fooled the whole country.
📍 Before you go Roughly a 3.5-4 hour drive (near the 180-mile edge of day-trip range); the giant is inside the ticketed Farmers' Museum, which has seasonal hours.
- 📍 Cooperstown
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 5775 NY-80, Cooperstown, NY 13326
Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Secret Caverns — Pair this 19th-century deception with a trip 27 miles east to explore limestone caves and vibrant hand-painted folk art billboards.
- World's Largest Kaleidoscope — Continue your Upstate detour by heading south to lie back inside a 56-foot grain silo converted into a giant optical show.
- Opus 40 — Trade a fake carved stone giant for a genuine, 37-year hand-built bluestone quarry labyrinth spread across six acres in Saugerties.
- Taconic Sculpture Park — Follow up the classic roadside swindle with four decades of real mythic stone sculptures built high on a hillside in Spencertown.
Good to know
Where is the original Cardiff Giant on display?
It is located at Fenimore Farm & Country Village (formerly known as the Farmers' Museum) at 5775 NY-80 in Cooperstown, New York.
What is the Cardiff Giant made out of?
It was carved from a three-thousand-pound block of gypsum quarried in Fort Dodge, Iowa, which was then treated with acid and pitted with needles to resemble human skin pores.
Did P.T. Barnum own the original giant?
No. When George Hull refused to sell or lease the original, Barnum paid a sculptor to build a replica and put it on display in New York City, claiming his was the authentic giant and Hull's was a fake.
Is the exhibit open year-round?
Fenimore Farm operates on seasonal schedule and hours, so you should check their current timetable on their website before driving out.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · fenimorefarm.org · Atlas Obscura · cnyhistory.org
last checked: 2026-06-23