The Orick Peanut

Orick, California

The Orick Peanut -- originally known as "Mr. Peanut" -- was roughly hewn from a nine-ton Redwood log in 1977. It was loaded onto a flatbed and driven to the White House, where members of the lumber industry tried to give it to President Jimmy Carter, a former peanut farmer. Accompanied by a sign that read, "It may be Peanuts to you, but it's Jobs to us!," the Peanut was a protest against Carter's planned expansion of Redwood National Park, which loggers viewed as a threat to their livelihoods.

Chopping a Redwood into a peanut was not a smart way to win favor with the conservation-minded White House, and the Peanut was rejected. It was driven all the way back to Orick, where the Chamber of Commerce president agreed to display it. The Peanut has sat in the same spot ever since.

It never did look much like a peanut and, because of years of weathering, it looks even less so now.