PMM to celebrate arrival of iconic “Big Jim”

The newly stored sign—a 40-foot-tall fisherman—honors Maine’s historic sardine fishery

WOW! Collective puts the finishing touches on Big Jim before his arrival in Searsport. Photo courtesy of Penobscot Marine Museum.

May 29, 2026

By Staff

SEARSPORT—The Penobscot Marine Museum will host a free public celebration to welcome the iconic “Big Jim” sign to the museum’s Route 1 campus on June 13 at 2 p.m. According to a press release, the Big Jim celebration will feature live music from The Hot Suppers and BookHead SweetTooth, along with free admission to the museum, including the featured exhibit, Sardineland. The public is invited to enjoy an afternoon of music, history, and community as the museum celebrates one of Maine’s most recognizable roadside figures, the release said.

 Originally erected in 1959 along Route 1 in Kittery, Big Jim was created as part of a campaign by the Maine Sardine Council to promote Maine’s sardine industry, the release said. The towering 40-foot fisherman later moved to Prospect Harbor, where he stood outside the Stinson Cannery — the last operating sardine cannery in the United States before its closure in 2010.

 Now, according to the release, Big Jim has been restored to his original 1959 appearance as part of the second year of the museum’s Sardineland exhibit. The release said that the “restoration project honors Maine’s once-thriving sardine industry, and the generations of workers and fishing communities that helped shape the state’s coastal economy. The project is about more than preserving a sign — it is about preserving the stories and heritage of Maine’s working waterfronts.”

 The Penobscot Marine Museum partnered with Belmont Boatworks, WOW! Collective, and David Wyman to complete the project, the release said. Big Jim traveled to Searsport thanks to Bold Coast Seafood and the Gouldsboro Historical Society, the release said.

 The June 13 event is free and open to the public. For more information about the event and the Big Jim restoration project, visit PenobscotMarineMuseum.org.