After Interstate 94 between Jamestown and Valley City was completed in 1956 and officially opened across the state in 1958, road construction prompted the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce to create an invitation for travelers to stop in Jamestown. Harold Newman of Newman Signs Inc., chair of the Chamber, insisted that an attraction was needed to stop motorists, and Elmer Petersen, a sculpture artist and professor at Jamestown College, agreed to build the World's Largest Buffalo. The project began in April 1959 and was completed in October 1959 at a total cost of $8,500, using steel beams, reinforcing rods, wire mesh, and gunite, or sprayed cement. The 60-ton concrete giant stands 26 feet tall, 14 feet wide, and 46 feet long. In 2010 it was named Dakota Thunder, and it is considered one of the Midwest's most popular roadside attractions. Today it greets over 100,000 people every year as visitors touch its beard for photos, while it overlooks kayakers and anglers on the James River, the spires of the historic 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse and St. James Basilica, and the large American flag flying at Fort Seward across town.