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Dick Tracy mural in Pawnee.

World's Largest Dick Tracy Mural

Field review by the editors.

Pawnee, Oklahoma

Chester Gould created and drew the Dick Tracy comic strip. He was born here in 1900, but he didn't create Dick Tracy here. All that he did while he was in Pawnee was to paint advertising signs on barns and names on office doors.

Gould left town in 1919. He didn't start drawing Dick Tracy until 1931, when he lived hundreds of miles away in Woodstock, Illinois (Woodstock has its own Chester Gould/Dick Tracy Museum). Pawnee seemed to have forgotten about Gould, just as Gould had forgotten about Pawnee.

Closer view of mural.

Then, in 1990, five years after Gould had died, this big mural appeared -- a nice recreation of Gould's style by Tulsa artist Ed Melberg. We couldn't figure out why until we remembered that 1990 was the year that the Dick Tracy movie came out.

World's Largest Dick Tracy Mural

Address:
503 Harrison St., Pawnee, OK
Directions:
Downtown. On US 64/Harrison St. at the corner of 6th St.
Save to My Sights

Nearby Offbeat Places

Pawnee Bill MuseumPawnee Bill Museum, Pawnee, OK - < 1 mi.
Friendship With Chief Bacon RindFriendship With Chief Bacon Rind, Skedee, OK - 6 mi.
Pipeline Crossroads of the WorldPipeline Crossroads of the World, Cushing, OK - 24 mi.
In the region:
Rock Cafe - Route 66, Stroud, OK - 41 mi.

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