Porterville, California: Paul Bunyan Motel Sign
Paul Bunyan Motel, long closed, but still retains the vintage ax sign. The carved Bunyan and Babe were moved to Three Rivers.
- Address:
- 940 West Morton Ave., Porterville, CA
- Directions:
- Highway 65 north from Bakersfield, exit Henderson, turn right at Chevron Station and travel south on Porter Road, the business is on the left.
- Hours:
- In parking lot, property appears closed. Local health policies may affect hours and access.
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The Paul Bunyan sign remains up over the closed motel. If you Ax me, I think it's pretty cool.
[Sanbotical, 04/26/2022]I have lived in Porterville most of my life and when I was a kid (20 some years ago) we used to go to the Paul Bunyan Lodge to eat at the restaurant. A while back it was on a downhill slide quality-wise, then was sold to some Middle Eastern people.
They did a little fixing up here and there and decided to change the name and image of the motel. The Paul Bunyan Lodge was rechristened the Palm Tree Inn and the owners thought it would be creative to paint the trunks of the dozen or so 50 ft. palms that line the south side with alternating colors. The people of this town could not stand the sight of that, and after many complaints the paint was removed.
The redwood Paul Bunyan was given back to the man who made it originally. It can now be seen as you are coming into Three Rivers on Hwy 198 north of Porterville. Babe the Blue Ox is at the Porterville Fair Grounds on the east side of town where Olive Avenue runs into Plano Street.
[Robert Berge, 09/26/2005]After seeing your extensive listing of Paul Bunyan locations, I was inspired to pack up the family and visit the town of Porterville, CA, just for the "bragging rights" of having visited the Paul Bunyan Motel. Alas, this "famous landmark" may have gone the way of the Dodo Bird and has gone to the Great Storybookland in the sky. When I visited the Porterville Motel, all that remained of poor Paul and his Ox was a 20 ft. ax atop the motel.
[Jaime Aragon, 07/06/2002]Nearby Offbeat Places
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Paul Bunyan was carved from a fallen giant sequoia by a man named Carroll Barnes in the early 1940s. The statue weighs over a ton, similar to what a real Bunyan would weigh.