The ‘Big Chicken’ celebrates its 60th birthday

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Marietta icon is celebrating a major milestone.

That would be the “Big Chicken,” of course!

The 56-foot tall bird, towering over a Kentucky Fried Chicken, had a party Sunday to celebrate its turning 60 years old.

For the last six decades, Metro Atlantans have been using the red, googly-eyed chicken for direction purposes.

Phrases like “turn right at the Big Chicken” are not at all uncommon in Cobb County.

It was a simultaneous celebration. Its designer, Hubert Puckett, was also turning 90!

“It’s great. I am really surprised it became such a big landmark,” he told Atlanta News First at the party. “At the time we designed it and sold it back in 1963, we had no idea it would be famous.”

Puckett was a Georgia Tech graduate, and it was built by the company Atlantic Steel. At the time, the restaurant was Johnny Reb’s Chick-Chuck-N-Shake.

It became a KFC in 1974.

The Big Chicken underwent a major renovation in 1993, after storm damage. It had another $2 million renovation in 2017.

Happy birthday, Big Chicken!