Brothers Richard and Will Hathaway sell rock and aggregate outside Burney, California. Over the years, they’ve accumulated a wide variety of scrap metal from old machinery.
In 1998, the brothers decided that, rather than just recycling the materials, they would make them into whimsical sculptures instead. Their very first creation, a “scrap dinosaur,” sat at the turnoff to their business. People loved it! It proved so popular that they have continued the tradition ever since, adding one new sculpture every year.
They’ve since expanded their medium, using rocks and any other scrap they can get their hands on. The statues resemble different whimsical figures. Most can be described as cartoon animals, but some take on human-like forms as well. There’s a grasshopper in a top hat, a flying pig, a couple of Tin Woodmen, several giant insects, a sauropod dinosaur with a body made of a tapered tank, a flying saucer complete with aliens, a giant dachshund made of a length of pipe, and many more. A giant gingerbread man at the front of the collection greets guests with a cheerful wave.
