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Why Is There a Dinosaur on Kings Highway? The Story of Haddy, Haddonfield's Bronze Hadrosaurus

The bronze dinosaur downtown marks the 1858 find that changed paleontology. Here's who made it and where to see the rest of the story.

By Live Haddonfield ยท

The bronze dinosaur at Kings Highway and Lantern Lane is Haddy, a sculpture of Hadrosaurus foulkii by Haddonfield artist John Giannotti, unveiled on Oct. 18, 2003. It marks a real find: in 1858, bones dug from a marl pit in Haddonfield became the first relatively complete dinosaur skeleton found anywhere. Every kid in town knows Haddy. Here's the story worth telling them.

The sculpture

Per the Haddonfield Outdoor Sculpture Trust, the project started with the Haddonfield Garden Club. Giannotti's studio lists the bronze at 17 feet long, made with associate sculptors Bill Massey and Bevan Hannigan.

It was a town effort. Historic Camden County News reported that Giannotti had more than a hundred people help apply clay to the original model, built in a barn behind his West End Avenue home. More than 2,000 people packed downtown for the 2003 unveiling. The dinosaur stands on a rock outcrop about 10 feet up, eyes angled so it seems to look right back at you.

Giannotti, a Rutgers professor emeritus, has other work in town too. His studio lists The Little Artist and My Dog Blue in Haddonfield, plus a tile frieze at Markeim Arts Center.

The 1858 find

The National Historic Landmark nomination tells it plainly. In October 1858, William Parker Foulke dug up the bones in a marl pit on a Haddonfield farm. The Academy of Natural Sciences says his farmer friend John Hopkins lived on that land.

Joseph Leidy, the leading American paleontologist of his day, studied the bones and named the species in 1859. Because the thigh bone was 40 percent longer than the upper arm, he concluded the animal could rear up on its hind legs. That broke with the big lizard picture scientists had back then.

In 1868 the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia put a mounted cast on display, built by British artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. It was the first place in the world where the public could see a mounted dinosaur. The crowds got so big the Academy started charging admission: ten cents.

Why it still matters here

In 1984, Eagle Scout Christopher Brees led his troop in building a small park at the dig site, near the end of Maple Avenue. Students at Strawbridge School in Westmont then campaigned to make it the state dinosaur. Gov. Jim Florio signed that bill on June 13, 1991. The site became a National Historic Landmark on Oct. 12, 1994.

Where to see more

  • Downtown: the bronze at Kings Highway and Lantern Lane. Free, always open.
  • The dig site: the small park off Maple Avenue.
  • Philadelphia: the Academy of Natural Sciences at 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. put a restored Hadrosaurus mount back in Dinosaur Hall in July 2025. It holds the original fossils.

Walking downtown with kids? Pair Haddy with the Children's Sculpture Zoo at Tatem Memorial Garden, or keep the history going at the Indian King Tavern and Greenfield Hall.

Sources

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FAQ

Where is the dinosaur statue in Haddonfield?
At the corner of Kings Highway and Lantern Lane downtown, per the Haddonfield Outdoor Sculpture Trust.
Who made the Haddonfield dinosaur sculpture?
Haddonfield sculptor John Giannotti. The bronze was unveiled on Oct. 18, 2003.
Where are the real Hadrosaurus bones?
The original fossils are in the collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia, which put a restored mount back on view in 2025.