Officially called the Burnside Fountain, this small bronze statue on the edge of the Worcester Common has been universally known as "Turtle Boy" for over a century. A naked child crouches astride a sea turtle in a pose that locals have spent decades trying to interpret charitably. The intended meaning was civic — a symbol of the city's investment in clean water — but it has become Worcester's most beloved and most-photographed oddity.
The statue sits at the corner of Front and Salem streets, easy to combine with a visit to the Common. Locals are fiercely protective of Turtle Boy; the statue has been temporarily relocated for restoration on several occasions to public outcry.