The Cardiff Giant
The Stone Man That Fooled a Nation
On October 16, 1869, two men digging a well on a quiet farm in Cardiff, New York, struck something hard beneath the clay. They kept digging. What they pulled from the earth was a stone man — ten feet tall and weighing three thousand pounds.
Thousands came to see it. Scientists declared it remarkable. Preachers said it proved the Bible was true. P.T. Barnum made a copy when he could not buy it.
They were all wrong. The giant was carved from a block of gypsum by a cigar maker with a grudge — and the truth came out in just fifty-five days.
1869
George Hull — a cigar maker and atheist — spent $2,600 (about $63,000 today) to have a ten-foot stone giant carved in secret in Chicago, then buried it on his cousin's farm and waited a year for it to be "discovered."
3,000 lbs
Nearly as heavy as a small car. It took ropes and a crane to lift it out.
500 /day
At 50 cents each — about $15 today.
55 Days
Hull confessed on December 10, 1869 — less than two months after discovery.
The Evidence
The Stone Giant
An imagined pause during the farm excavation. The discovery itself remains outside the frame; this is not a measured view of the pit or statue.
The Chisel Marks
Yale professor Othniel Charles Marsh spotted fresh tool marks on the surface immediately. He called it "a most decided humbug." The marks should have been worn away if the giant had been buried for any real length of time.
Barnum's Fake of a Fake
When P.T. Barnum couldn't buy the original, he made a plaster copy and displayed it as the "real" giant. His copy drew bigger crowds than the original. A judge refused to hear the lawsuit — because nobody could prove the original was real either.
How the Hoax Unfolded
The Argument
George Hull attends a Methodist revival meeting in Iowa and argues with Reverend Turk about whether the Bible's giants were real. He loses. He leaves angry — and with a plan.
The Quarry
Hull hires men to cut an 11-foot block of gypsum near Fort Dodge, Iowa. He tells them it is for a monument to Abraham Lincoln. Nobody questions him.
The Secret Carving
In Chicago, sculptor Edward Burghardt and two assistants carve the giant in secret, working only during off-hours. Hull adds fake pores with darning needles and ages the surface with sulphuric acid.
The Burial
Under cover of darkness, the 3,000-pound giant is buried behind the barn on Stub Newell's farm in Cardiff, New York. Hull and Newell wait almost a full year.
The "Discovery"
Workers hired to dig a well in exactly the right spot uncover the giant. Word spreads instantly. Within days, hundreds are visiting per day at 50 cents a look.
The Confession
George Hull confesses everything to the press. He describes the quarry, the carving, the needles, the acid, and the burial. The crowds keep coming anyway.
The People in This Story
George Hull
A cigar maker and atheist from Binghamton, New York. He spent a year and $2,600 to create the giant — all to prove that people who believed in Bible giants could be easily fooled.
Othniel Charles Marsh
A Yale palaeontologist who examined the giant and immediately spotted fresh chisel marks. He called it "a most decided humbug" — and he was right.
P.T. Barnum
America's most famous showman. When he couldn't buy the giant, he made a plaster copy and displayed it as the real one. His fake of a fake drew even bigger crowds than the original.
The Question That Remains
Hull confessed, and reports explained how the giant had been made. People still came to see the famous hoax.
Was George Hull a clever con artist who tricked innocent people for money — or a sceptic who proved an important point about how easily humans can be fooled?
Read the full book to investigate the key clues and competing explanations — then decide for yourself.
Get the Full Book
The complete Cardiff Giant mystery. 9 chapters of evidence, theories, and a question only you can answer.
Part of the Hoaxes Volume
From fake fossils to trick photographs, we investigate the greatest hoaxes in history — and ask how clever people were fooled for so long.
See all books in this volume →Keep investigating
Check the evidence
What the evidence supports
The Cardiff Giant is a carved gypsum figure, not a fossilised person. The Farmers’ Museum preserves the object.
Where to be careful
A crowd’s excitement and a promoter’s claims are evidence of the hoax’s success, not of a real giant.
Explore the sources
These selected sources support this guide and offer further reading. Some are written for adults; explore them with a parent or teacher.
The story and illustrations are modern retellings. Imagined scene details are not historical evidence. These sources are a starting point, not citations for every narrative detail.
Evidence guide reviewed 8 September 2026.