Beetle Bailey Statue in Columbia, Missouri

Celebrate comic strip artist and writer Mort Walker by visiting the Beetle Bailey Statue in Columbia, Missouri.

Mort Walker (Addison Morton Walker, 1923 – 2018) was a well-known comic strip artist and one of his best-known creations was Beetle Bailey, a comic centered around a goof-off Private on a fictional United States Army post.

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Walker was an alumnus of University of Missouri and it was on campus, at a local bar called The Shack, that he first envisioned the character.

The life-sized bronze statue depicts Beetle Bailey as a college student (in the original comic he attended a University before enlisting). He is shown sitting at a table with a beer, paying tribute to The Shack, which burned down in 1988.

Mort Walker himself designed and paid for the sculpture and his son Neal helped to sculpt it. It was unveiled in front of the University of Missouri alumni center on October 23, 1992 during the college’s Homecoming celebration at which point Walker was also on campus as the 1992 William Francis English Scholar-in-Residence.

Beetle Bailey Statue in Columbia, Missouri

"Come sit with Beetle Bailey, Mizzou's famous comic-strip character created through the genius of Mort Walker, AB '48 Humanities. Beetle relaxes in the re-creation of a booth from The Shack, a hangout frequented by Walker during his student days. Walker started drawing the laid-back Mizzou student and Army private in 1950. With his son Neal, Walker designed and produced this bronze statue as a gift to MU. It was installed in 1992. The statue was financed by donations from Walker, King Features Syndicate and alumni, whose names are carved on the bench and table. The statue is located near the site of The Shack, which was destroyed by fire on Halloween 1988." — “Come sit with Beetle Bailey, Mizzou’s famous comic-strip character created through the genius of Mort Walker, AB ’48 Humanities. Beetle relaxes in the re-creation of a booth from The Shack, a hangout frequented by Walker during his student days. Walker started drawing the laid-back Mizzou student and Army private in 1950. With his son Neal, Walker designed and produced this bronze statue as a gift to MU. It was installed in 1992. The statue was financed by donations from Walker, King Features Syndicate and alumni, whose names are carved on the bench and table. The statue is located near the site of The Shack, which was destroyed by fire on Halloween 1988.”

If you love this Missouri roadside attraction, be sure to look for these others nearby: the big shoe made out of shoes, Katy Depot, and the world’s largest pecan.

Beetle Bailey Statue

Address: University of Missouri, Reynolds Alumni Building, 704 Conley Ave, Columbia, MO 65201
Cost: Free to See
Hours: Always Visible

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Valerie Bromann

Founder & ROad Trip Expert

Valerie Bromann is a a website manager, content creator, and writer from Chicago, Illinois (currently living in Dallas, Texas). As an avid road tripper who has visited hundreds of roadside attractions, Val always pull over for a world’s largest thing. Founder of Silly America and author of The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book, she visits, photographs, and writes about all the weird tourist destinations she visits and offers road trip planning advice and inspiration based on her own travels so you can hit the road for yourself.