World’s Largest “M” In Platteville Wisconsin

Rundes Visits the “Big M”

Before we discuss the topic of the world’s largest “M”, we’d like to give you some stats about the letter M.  Fun facts, if you will.

It proudly begins powerful words like: mighty, magnificent and majestic. It is the 14th most used letter in the English alphabet, and the 13th in sequential order.  It’s been said that a person cannot say this letter without their top and bottom lips touching … even when ventriloquists say a word that contains an “M”, they often substitute the “ng” sound (or employ some other work-around) so they won’t have to touch their lips together.   Of course, we are talking about the letter “M”.  Here in the Tri-State area there is a memorable monument that uses this letter in perhaps the Most Meaningful way.

On the slopes of the Platte Mound near Platteville, WI the world’s largest “M” can be seen. It originally came about in 1936 when two students, Raymon Medlel and Alvin Knoerr, got the idea to stamp the humongous letter into the snow. The M stood for “Mining”, to honor the Platteville Mining School which they both attended. The prestigious school’s entire engineering department soon got involved in making the big letter stay around forever. After careful surveying, 400 tons of light-colored limestone and cement were placed in an M that stands 241 feet high, and 214 feet wide. The M is still a symbol of mining pride and is seen in pictures, signs and sculptures all around Platteville.  And amazingly enough, the M can be seen from Loras College in Dubuque (roughly 20 miles away).

A photo of one of the wooden steps leading up to the world’s largest M in Platteville.

If you are looking to visit the world’s largest “M”, you must first make your way through the maze of fields to the base of the mound where the “M” stands. Once there, you have to go up 266 steps to make it to the top. For those who are sweating at the thought, there are 3 midway platforms to take breaks on, and soak up the beautiful view of the area.