Pig Monument

Oconee, Georgia

Bartow Barron lost his pig in late 1933, which was in the depths of the Great Depression. Barron was frantic; the pig was his "winter meat" pig, and without it his family might starve. After days of searching Barron found the pig, alive, but it was at the bottom of a 40-foot-deep dry well. Barron realized that the only way to get the pig out was to fill the well with dirt, one shovelful at a time.

Word got around. Soon all of Barron's neighbors were on hand with their shovels, throwing dirt into the well. After 12 days of community shoveling, the pig walked free. And was eaten.

Nearly 60 years later a local folklorist heard the story, tracked down the old well (still mostly filled with dirt), and decided that it deserved a granite monument. The monument was unveiled before a cheering crowd in October 1992, with speeches by an Emory University professor and the town mayor.

Since then the pig-in-the-well has mostly faded from memory again, but as long as the monument stands the wayward porker will not be completely forgotten.