Terre Haute, Indiana - Statue of Stiffy Green the Bulldog

Terre Haute, Indiana - Statue of Stiffy Green the Bulldog

Mysterious green-eyed bulldog, famous for scaring kids from its replica mausoleum. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Terre Haute, Indiana - Stiffy Green the Bulldog

I took my 15-year old daughter to visit Stiffy during a road trip, and personally, I think you ought to put a spoiler alert on this page! The description of Stiffy at the museum leaves it up to the visitor to decide whether or not they think Stiffy is a real dog, and where he is located he cannot be touched. Since the joy of Roadside America is the whimsy of it all, I would prefer that Stiffy remain a mystery.

PS...when my daughter, who has visited MANY roadside attractions with me, read the story of Stiffy that's posted at the museum, she loudly exclaimed, "Oh! This is the worst thing you've ever taken me to!" It made my day! [Judy Pancoast, 07/25/2009]

Terre Haute, Indiana - Stiffy Green the Bulldog

Locals have claimed for years that the real Stiffy Green the Bulldog is housed in the Vigo County Historical Museum. They kept him in a replica of the Heinhl family mausoleum and one could only see him by peering in through the glass door. I first encountered the display during an elementary field trip to the museum in the early 1990s. I often wondered about the little dog in the years following, as he seemed eerily lifelike, yet not quite furry enough to be a taxidermied version of the real thing.

I was visiting the museum again recently and, as luck would have it, the mausoleum display had been moved for cleaning. There, on a fireplace mantle in a room dedicated to Civil War artifacts, sat Stiffy. His green eye was gleaming down at the room, all but beckoning me to solve the mystery that had haunted me since fourth grade. I walked up to the mantle and gently tapped Stiffy on the head. He was, in fact, made of plaster.

After I had toured the rest of the museum, I inquired of the gift shop attendant about Stiffy. The older gentleman looked around as if to ensure we were alone and confirmed that while Stiffy had indeed lived a full life as a faithful family companion, he had never been stuffed. [Faye Travis, 03/23/2009]

Terre Haute, Indiana - Stiffy Green The Bulldog Was REAL

Although the Vigo County Historical Society may deny that Stiffy Green (not his real name) was a real dog at one time, I can tell you from actually seeing the dog that he WAS/is a real animal. I'm sure they got bad press about it at one time or another, but when I was in high school during the 60's it was "cool" to go look at him. He was in fact a taxidermist's work, not a statue. I know I'm just one person against the official county record, but I assure you, Stiffy lived at one time or another. [Dave Kyle, 02/05/2007]