08/16/2026
In case you didn’t know the history…
A man built a 56-foot chicken just to get people to notice his restaurant, and now it's the reason half of Cobb County gives directions.
Tubby Davis put the Big Chicken up in 1963 to advertise Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck, and Shake, hiring a Georgia Tech architecture student named Hubert Puckett to design it. The moving eyes and beak worked so well they shattered the restaurant's windows every time they turned on, so the chicken just stood still instead. KFC took over in 1974, and when Colonel Sanders himself visited and demanded it come down, he changed his mind on the spot after learning it was the busiest KFC on the planet. Marietta nearly lost it twice, once to storm damage in 1993 and once to a quiet relocation deal in 1989 that residents found out about and killed.
"Turn left at the Big Chicken" has been real driving directions in Cobb County for over 60 years.
Been inside for a bucket, or just used it as a landmark your whole life?
📍 Marietta, Cobb County, Metro Atlanta