Atlanta Big Chicken Restaurant

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Location: US 41 at Roswell Street, Marietta

Johnny Reb's was a Marietta greasy spoon with a challenge. Owner Tubby Davis was facing increasing competition and he needed a means of attracting customers to his establishment. "Reb" burgers at 15 cents a shot were no longer unique, but his fried chicken might just do the trick. He turned to Georgia Tech ('57) graduate Hubert Puckett to design and build the sheet metal structure that rose 56 feet above the ground.

Puckett was employed by a division of Atlanta Steel, a structural design and building firm. The eyes were designed to rotate and the beak would open and close.

A ruffle on the top of the Big Chicken's head would move from side-to-side in the wind. In 1966 S.R. Davis sold the restaurant to this brother A. T. Davis who owned one of the early Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises. In 1974 Kentucky Fried Chicken (K.F.C.) leased the restaurant which was one of the highest dollar volume K.F.C. operations until the construction of I-75 parallel to U.S. 41 relocated the traffic through the area. The restaurant became a landmark that is still going strong today.