If you saw a 35-foot Tyrannosaurus rex standing by the road, would you pull the car over for a better look? Back in 1963, Shenandoah Valley entrepreneur Joseph Geraci bet the answer would be yes – and his bet paid off.
Geraci planted five enormous fiberglass dinosaurs at the busy intersection of U.S. routes 340 and 522 in Clarke County.
His goal: to lure tourists to a gift shop he owned on the property in the tiny community of White Post, just south of Winchester and about an hour west of Ashburn.
Geraci’s strategy was an instant success. Working with noted fiberglass artist James Q. Sidwell, Geraci and his wife, Viola, commissioned several more life-size dinosaurs, which were delivered in pieces on trucks and assembled across the property’s 6 acres.
After stuffing the gift shop’s shelves with dinosaur-themed memorabilia, Dinosaur Land was officially launched in 1967.