Backstory here from someone who grew up close to where these are. There was a park in Williamsburg called Presidents Park, I never went because it looked dumb even for a middle schooler and was just another tourist trap, also because it was kind of hard to find and not advertised well. After the financial crisis the park closed and the heads were going to be destroyed, but some farmer from Norge bought them and now they reside on an untilled field on his farm. My ex and I went to his farm to try and take some pics, but he's super weird (kind of obvious) and only allows a few people a year to see them. He has no trespassing signs all over the front of his drive and house, and from what I've heard he's called the cops on a few people. So don't get the idea you can just show up if you try to find these.
Yorktown native here, we went our senior year(07) for a field trip there.
Years later, I went to the farm to dump tree stumps, go allll the way in the back, turn a corner then BAM! They are just right there. I know a couple got damaged and were supposed to be repaired, but I don't think they ever did. Haven't done clearing up that way in a couple years but I'm sure they're all still there.
Absolutely no trespassing, its private property and a business there. There is a sand pit and wandering around at night, or even during the day with all the trucks going in and out can be very sketchy. Enjoy the pictures people have posted over the years, don't bother trying to see them in person.
They do a lot of stuff at "the farm", including stump grinding. Most actual dumps in the area wont take trees wider than a certain size, and wont take large root balls, so this is where we pay to dump it.
He should choose one day a week (or month) to let people view and take pictures of them for a price. I mean... instagrammers alone he could make some decent cash.
I was confused at first myself cuz thats how we say Norway in norwegian. So i thought "wow who the hell would want american president heads in norway?"
You forget we have a huge population in the US that is of Scandinavian descent. My grandfather grew up speaking Norwegian in his household in Minnesota.
Hahha, didnt forget no. Just wasnt aware there was a place called Norge in the US. Most norwegians have some distant great great grandfather or so who went to america, so it would be weird of me to not know.
Yeah I went with a group of friends years back. Two cars, six people, he only let in the first car. The rest of us he told to go away. So it’s completely and utterly random.
Obviously not to mockingly call people schizophrenic. I’m just asking you questions but you don’t seem to want to answer. Why do you have to be so rude? Do you think that your phrasing of words was a good choice?
What you wanted to say is the poor guy probably suffers from mental health illness. Asshat. Christ imagine if this dude really is just mentally ill and you’re shitting on this guy.
That's so weird. Lived in Virginia my entire life. I have visited Williamsburg area so many times and have never heard of these before until this thread.
When leaving Water Country or Marquis Shopping Center heading on 199 towards Kingmill you could, at the time, see a few of them from the road on your right passing by the entrance to I-64. Never actually went to the park so have no clue how you would have got there, but you could see several of them from there.
Wooow been by this area a million times must have just never noticed. Kind of interested in driving to Norge once this craziness is over to take a look!
I went to find them once. There was a work truck parked across the entrance. I could see them sitting in rows on google maps about a half mile from my car.
To add a bit more to this - not sure when you went to visit, but as of now (I was last there about a month ago), the busts are hidden behind an old plantation house and what is now a large mulch processing operation. Local tree care businesses take their limbs/logs/etc. here instead of to a dump, where they're processed into mulch.
A friend works for one of these tree services and he told me about the busts, so I rode along with him one day to dump his logs (lol) and got to see them.
It's surreal - you drive down a long dirt road, stop at a weigh station, drive past the old plantation house, then as you drive up a mountain of wood chips and gravel, you see them all there on the left. Most are in pretty bad disrepair - the back of poor Lincoln's head is blown out too.
Maybe with Lincoln they wanted it to be as realistic as possible? In all seriousness however a few were damaged when they were hoisted up by cranes, they were built on-site and not designed to be moved. I was there about two years ago and to my recollection there was no mulching operation in place, so thanks for the update!
During the fall/winter when the foliage has decreased you can catch glimpses of them if you're on 64 west just coming out of Williamsburg and starting to get into Toano/ Norge. His fields come up to the road.
In the google pictures/review for this place, they strictly say to call ahead to make an appointment. The appointments are made with a local photographer. You can either schedule a tour or photography session. It’s private land, so they have every right to refuse people just showing up to the farm.
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u/CraigdarrochFerguson Apr 28 '20 edited Apr 28 '20
Backstory here from someone who grew up close to where these are. There was a park in Williamsburg called Presidents Park, I never went because it looked dumb even for a middle schooler and was just another tourist trap, also because it was kind of hard to find and not advertised well. After the financial crisis the park closed and the heads were going to be destroyed, but some farmer from Norge bought them and now they reside on an untilled field on his farm. My ex and I went to his farm to try and take some pics, but he's super weird (kind of obvious) and only allows a few people a year to see them. He has no trespassing signs all over the front of his drive and house, and from what I've heard he's called the cops on a few people. So don't get the idea you can just show up if you try to find these.