Built in 1937 to attract attention of passing motorists, these are similar to such structures as the Benewah Milk Bottle, the Teapot Dome Service Station, or the comparably colossal Dinosaur Park sculptures in South Dakota.

In the 1920s the rise in automobile usage and affordability contributed to a significant boom in Bemidji's tourist industry, but it suffered during the Great Depression.

Due to Bemidji's once prominent status as a logging and lumbering center, the celebrations focused on Paul Bunyan, the larger-than life lumberjack who is an American folk hero.

The money was also allocated for use in maintenance, with the majority slated for stabilizing the ground beneath the statues, to lessen shifting in freezing temperatures.

The work included repairing a 1-inch-wide (25 mm) crack in Babe from the neck to the hindquarters; this had continued to widen despite yearly fixes by the city with caulk and blue paint.