President’s Heads had been on my list for a while, but I was always thwarted by their sporadic schedule – they’re normally open on holidays and we’re always either traveling somewhere else or working.

I stalk them on social media and I was psyched when tickets opened up for the weekend after this past Christmas.

The President’s Heads are at a junkyard in Williamsburg, VA (yes, the colonial reenactment place we all took school fields trips to). The address is at Hampton Roads Materials, 8212 Croaker Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188.

They are the remnants of a US President-themed sculpture park (called President’s Park) that went out of business during Barack Obama’s presidency. This junkyard bought the sculptures and keeps them safe here.

Here’s a map of the park that kept us oriented to who we were looking at, and here’s the sample sculpture of Obama that never had chance to be mad full-size. 😦

When you get there, you present your ticket to the (so friendly and funny) staff, park in the gravel/dirt lot, and walk to a little tent to wait for your orientation before walking back to the Heads themselves. There’s an outdoor gift shop tent and we picked up a magnet and sticker to add to our out-of-control collection.

You’re greeted by this plaque about Andrew Jackson, then you get to an area where you can borrow some boots for the mud.

There were a ton of people milling about, absorbed in taking photos, listening to historical talks given by the staff, and trying not to slip in all of the mud.

I was obsessed with all of the intricate details on each of the sculptures. It’s amazing how much passion and effort went in to each of these. The designs on each tie, the hairstyles and textures, the eyeglasses, the ears…. the 5 stars on Eisenhower’s shoulders… just everything. I notice more and more every time I look through the photos again.

We were geeked out taking pics of Ike with Eisenhower. He’s named after him!

Obviously high on my list. *sighs in crush*

This is Chester A. Arthur. Of course I loved how creepy not having a mouth made him look, but I’m only now realizing that he has the most beautiful design on his tie!

We had a pretty overcast day and of course it wouldn’t been nicer if the Sun cooperated for photos, but I’m not complaining. We had so much fun and it was fun to watch everyone else nerd out about them too.

One of my favorites. Thank you for the start of the National Parks, Teddy. Love you.

Bill, Bill, Bill… why do I have the Bill Nye song in my head when I look at him. Isn’t it crazy how young he looks?

Separate from the main group of Presidents are George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln. It was so cool to have enough room to get eye-to-eye with them.

My absolute fav. Love you, Abe.

I couldn’t get over the detail in Washington’s tie, wig, ponytail & Jackson’s luscious hair, tassels… just everything.

Here are some details about the artist, David Adickes:

You buy your tickets via EventBrite for a few different two hour time slots that you can arrive within. There’s no real time limit on your visit. We stayed for about an hour.

I would absolutely recommend this. You gotta follow them on Facebook so you see when they release tickets next – as of writing this, the next one is 2/15/25. (See here: https://thepresidentsheads.com/photo-workshops-copy.)

President’s Heads website:
https://thepresidentsheads.com/

History of the park in their words:
https://thepresidentsheads.com/history

Presidents Park via Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidents_Park

Get driving directions via Google Maps by clicking this link.