7 votes

The Home of "Popeye"

1330 SWANWICK STREET, Chester, Illinois 62233 USA

Closed Now

Opens Tue 8a

Independent

“The town of Chester, IL”

Chester is the "Home of Popeye," where a 6-foot (1.8 m), 900-pound (410 kg) bronze statue of Popeye the Sailor Man stands in the Elzie C. Segar Memorial Park, which honors Popeye's creator, Elzie Segar. The park is located next to the Chester Bridge. Several of Mr. Segar's characters were created from experiences with people of Chester. Chester's big event is its annual Popeye Picnic and parade, held the weekend after Labor Day. Popeye fans travel from all over the United States and the world to partake in the weekend activities. Most of the events and entertainment are free and family friendly. New statues honoring the other Thimble Theater characters are added each year. This character trail is spread throughout Chester and to date includes: Popeye the Sailor Man J. Wellington Wimpy (2006) "Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea, and Jeep" (2007) "Bluto" (2008) "Castor Oyl and Whiffle Hen" (2009) "Sea Hag" (2010)

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Reviewed by
txmarg

14 Reviews
1 Helpful

March 17, 2019

Rated 4.0

The address is for the city administration building. The staff was friendly and provided us a map of the statue locations. Also a small park has a building mural of characters and face-photo characters to pose in. Fun and memory building.

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
massacre1022

4 Reviews
1 Helpful

October 07, 2014

Rated 4.0

the people n the town were very nice and gave us a map of where to find all the statues worth the detour. finding the statues was half the fun

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
princie_80

17 Reviews
8 Helpful

October 07, 2015

Rated 1.0

What a disappointment!!! There is nothing there. No bronze statue. The only thing that really had Popeye on it was city hall and it was closed. Not worth the drive.

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