Popeye Statue — Crystal City, Texas
Crystal City residents and spinach growers · dedicated 26 March 1937 · City Hall, Crystal City, Texas, USA
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress (public domain), taken between 1980 and 2006, as published on Street Art Utopia.
Crystal City, the self-declared Spinach Capital of the World, dedicated a painted statue of Popeye on 26 March 1937 to thank cartoonist E. C. Segar, whose spinach-eating sailor had boosted the town’s main crop. Source Source Source Source Checked
Seen Dec 2024: a 10 December 2024 Kleefeld on Comics post describes the statue outside City Hall and the original inside; the newest dated photo is from 29 March 2019 Source Checked
More photos
💡 4 things to know
- A thank-you to SegarAfter Segar answered the Chamber of Commerce’s letter, a reader proposed a statue paid for by public donations; Segar approved the plans and the pedestal plaque reads ‘courtesy E. C. Segar’. Source Source Checked
- Original indoors, copy outsideTexas Escapes (2004) and a 2024 comics-history blog say the statue outside City Hall is a fiberglass duplicate and the 1937 original is inside City Hall; Roadside America mentions a second Popeye indoors at the Chamber of Commerce. Source Source Source Reported
- A limestone Popeye that may not have been builtTexas Escapes says architect Max Sandfield’s limestone Popeye was one entry in the 1937 contest and is not the statue standing; Kleefeld on Comics says his design was the one chosen. Source Source Conflicting
- Spinach Festival since 1936The first Spinach Festival was held in 1936; it paused around World War II, was revived in 1982 and is held every second weekend of November. Source Source Checked
📍 Where it is
In front of City Hall, E. Zavala St (behind the police station, south side of downtown), Crystal City, Zavala County, Texas, USA Source Source Checked
Opens a map at 28.6775, -99.82833.
🗓️ Sightings
- 193624 Apr
Press: town is erecting Popeye statue
- 193726 Mar
Statue dedicated in Crystal City
- 1939Mar
Russell Lee photographs the original
- 1982
Spinach Festival revived
- 200411 Sep
Outdoor copy fiberglass, original indoors
- 201929 Mar
Photographed outside City Hall
- 202410 Dec
Blog: original still inside City Hall
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Popeye: Sailors in Limestone
“Looking as shiny as a spray-painted pinata, this fiberglass effigy shares a secret with museum statuary”
Crystal City, Texas
“The original statue is safely ensconced in the City Hall to protect it from vandals.”
✅ The facts
- Commissioned by
- Spinach growers and townspeople, by public donation (proposal by O.P. Schnabel); credited “courtesy E. C. Segar” Source Source Source Reported
- Sculptor
- Not named in any source found Source Unconfirmed
- Material
- Outdoor statue: fiberglass duplicate (Texas Escapes 2004); material of the 1937 original not stated Source Source Reported
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Library of Congress (FSA/OWI, Russell Lee) — 1939-03 (photo date)
- Library of Congress (Carol M. Highsmith Archive) — between 1980 and 2006 (photo date)
- Crystal City Spinach Festival (official site)
- Roadside America
- Texas Escapes (John Troesser, ‘Johnny Stucco’) — 2004-09-11
- Texas Escapes (letter by Ted Hood Sr.) — 2006-11-07
- Kleefeld on Comics (blog) — 2024-12-10
- Barry Popik (etymology database)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons (Flickr, formulanone) — 2019-03-29 (camera date)
- Hero image: Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress (public domain), taken between 1980 and 2006, as published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 6 November 2026 · How we verify art