Fargo Wood Chipper

The Fargo wood chipper is a genuine piece of movie memorabilia, displayed at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center as one of the city's more self-aware tourist attractions. The Coen Brothers' 1996 film Fargo brought the city international name recognition — the film opens with the title card "This is a true story," a deliberate lie — and the city has leaned into the connection with dry good humour.

The visitors center also has Fargo-related film displays and a helpful staff who can direct you to other film locations (or explain patiently that most of the movie was shot in Minnesota). The wood chipper has become a genuine pilgrimage destination for film fans, which says something interesting about either the film or the visitors, or both.

things to do sight
A story
The Coen Brothers' 1996 film Fargo was not actually filmed in Fargo, and the wood chipper scene takes place in a fictional location. But Fargo has fully embraced its Hollywood association: the chipper on display at the Visitors Center is a genuine 1980s wood chipper of the same model used as a prop in the film, and it sits next to a boot protruding from its intake — a nod to the film's most notorious scene.