The Story of Big Jim the Sardineman
Big Jim as he looked in 1959, welcoming everyone to the state 
This side bid farewell to anyone traveling south 
Updated at least once in Kittery, but showing his age by the late 1960s 
Big Jim moved to Prospect Harbor in the 1970’s and became the ambassador for the Stinson Canning Co. 
The painted plywood panels of the original Big Jim were replaced by aluminum ones 
Big Jim is a 12-piece puzzle. 1/4″ thick aluminum panels are bolted to steel I-beams, cemented into the granite ledge 
Stinson Canning Co. changed its name to Stinson Seafood Co., but the Beach Cliff brand continued 
The last rendition of Big Jim before the factory closed in 2010 
After the last sardine was canned in 2010, Big Jim was repainted as a Lobsterman
BIG JIM’S ORIGINS
Standing 40 feet tall in his yellow rain gear, Big Jim the Sardineman has been one of coastal Maine’s most beloved landmarks for more than six decades — a larger-than-life tribute to the generations of men and women who built their lives around the sea.
In 1959, the Maine Sardine Council erected him alongside Route 1 in Kittery to welcome northbound travelers to Vacationland and Sardineland. Clutching a can of sardines, he was the centerpiece of a creative campaign to celebrate Maine’s thriving sardine industry — a coast once dotted by more than 50 canneries, employing thousands of workers. Built from painted plywood panels, he stood as a cheerful ambassador of the state for roughly 10 years. He was even featured on the cover of a promotional comic book produced by the Council, Ricky and Debbie in Sardineland
BIG JIM COMES TO PROSPECT HARBOR
By the late 1960s, a new Route 1 bridge bypassed Big Jim’s post in Kittery, and the Maine Sardine Council, facing a declining herring fishery, decided to take him down. Stinson Canning Co. stepped in, rescuing Big Jim at company expense and transporting him to their factory in Prospect Harbor. Before being reinstalled, he was rebuilt: his image was transferred to a dozen aluminum panels bolted to steel I-beams sunk into the ground. The sardine can was repainted with Stinson’s Beach Cliff label, and Big Jim took up his new post in the 1970’s, where locals came to know him affectionately as the “Stinson Man.”
The cannery changed hands several times over the following decades — from Stinson to Connors Bros. to Bumble Bee Foods — and after it closed in April 2010, the last sardine cannery in the United States, Big Jim remained standing. The new owners of the plant repainted him holding a lobster trap.
BIG JIM’S NEXT CHAPTER
Today, Big Jim belongs to Bold Coast Seafood, the new owners of the historic Prospect Harbor cannery. In 2026, Penobscot Marine Museum is partnering with Bold Coast Seafood and Gouldsboro Historical Society to restore Big Jim to his original 1959 appearance — sardine can and all — ensuring that his story, and the story of Maine’s sardine heritage, is never forgotten.
Watch our 6-minute video of the 10-hour process of Big Jim’s disassembly on March 29, 2026. We’ll add more videos as his journey of restoration and return continues, so keep checking back. Big Jim even made the WABI TV News.
Once restored, Big Jim will spend the summer of 2026 standing again along US Rt 1, this time in Searsport, as a feature of Penobscot Marine Museum’s Sardineland exhibit. In October, 2026, he will be returned to his home at Bold Coast Seafood in Prospect Harbor.
HELP MAKE SURE BIG JIM STANDS TALL FOR GENERATIONS TO COME