Cardiff Giant - Cooperstown, NY - New York Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

A New York State Marker on Route 80, Lake Street, in Cooperstown, NY is inscribed:

NEW YORK
CARDIFF GIANT
THE GREAT AMERICAN HOAX
DUG UP IN CARDIFF, NY
OCTOBER 16, 1869
NOW AT THE FARMERS' MUSEUM

STATE EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT 1949

The Cardiff Giant is a 10' tall figure of a petrified man. It was dug up on October 16, 1869, by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell in Cardiff, New York. The Cardiff Man was passed off as a genuine archaeological find. Newell set up a viewing area on his property and charged people to view the find.

It was later shown that the Carfiff Man was a hoax that was created by George Hull to fool fundamentalist into believing the validity of the verse from Genesis 6:4 "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown". On February 2, 1870, the Cardiff Giant was exposed as being fake.

The Cardiff Giant was exhibited in many locations around the United States. It is currently an exhibit at the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, NY.

Marker Name: Cardiff Giant Marker Type: Roadside Agency: State Education Department Dedication Date: 1949 City/Town/Village Name: Cooperstown County: Otsego Region: Central Leatherstocking (Region 6) Website: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/17/2018 ripraff visited it