O'Brien County Freedom Rock

In the city park at Sanborn sits a painted boulder, and it belongs to one of the most ambitious folk art projects in the country. Iowa artist Ray Sorensen, known as Bubba, set out to paint a Freedom Rock honoring veterans in every one of Iowa's ninety nine counties. This is the O'Brien County stone.

Its murals pay tribute to local veterans, including Daniel Pippinger, a Sanborn Civil War veteran. Townspeople raised money to bring the rock and the artist here. It is a small painted monument, but it is part of a tribute stretching all the way across the state.