Most Hilarious Landmarks In The USA

By Editorial Staff in Nature On 21st December 2016
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#1 Giant Gorilla

From billboards and highway signs promoting "The World's Largest", we've found some of the most hilarious landmarks you've ever seen. Join us as we crisscross the United States in an epic adventure of weird, wacky, silly and fun as we start in Leicester, VT to see the giant gorilla holding up a VW Beetle in front of Pioneer Auto Sales.

#2 Lady In The Lake

Now we're heading off to Elberta, Alabama where we spot a lady sitting leisurely in the middle of a lake. She's not hard to miss since she is 50 feet long! Built in 2012 the "Country Girl Swimming" fiberglass sculpture was commissioned by billionaire art patron George Barber to sit in the murky waters of Barber Marina on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Outside the water she stands 108 feet tall.

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#3 Pheasants On The Prairie

Leaving southern Alabama, tourists migrating north on Interstate 94 are quick to discover a 30-mile stretch of highway near Gladstone, North Dakota that is better known as the Enchanted Highway. This particular highway is littered with roadside attractions, like "World's Largest Tin Family," "Grasshoppers in the Field," and "Deer Crossing." However, you'll surely not want to miss out on seeing the Pheasants On The Prairie. They measure 70 feet long, 40 feet tall and weigh an incredible 13,000 pounds. The pheasants were completed between 1996 and 1997 and are in good company with six other sculptures created by artist Gary Greff.

#4 Blucifer

The Denver International Airport added an odd landmark in 2008 when it erected a Blue Mustang on the grounds, which has been dubbed "Blucifer". The giant sized neon blue horse has a raging glare with bright red eyes that eerily greet visitors after miles of empty prairie before arriving at the airport. The statue was commissioned by the airport to be created in 2006 by Mexican artist Luiz Jimenez, who was killed by Blucifer after it fell on him and crushed him. It was finally finished by his family and arrived in Denver where people are afraid of the attraction, claiming it is bad luck and "a killer". The airport paid over $2 million for the eerie mustang.

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#5 World's Largest Chicken Wing

Now here's something you can sink your teeth into! World's Largest Chicken Wing in Madeira Beach, Florida hangs outside of the Hooters restaurant near the beach to lure hungry customers inside for a plate of their juicy wings. It has also become a tourist attraction, making the Handbook On Roadside Attractions list of places to visit in unique America. Who could bypass a one-thousand-pound chicken wing and the chance to eat at Hooters?

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#6 Lucy the Elephant

If you've ever been to the Jersey Coast, you've probably heard of or actually spotted Lucy the Elephant. Sitting in Margate City, New Jersey, the giant six-story tall Lucy was created out of wood and tin by James V. Lafferty in 1881 as a larger-than-life advertisement to help sell real estate in the area and bring in tourists. 135 years later, and retired from real estate, Lucy is still a big tourist attraction, and from the very top you can see the Atlantic City skyline.

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#7 Two-Story Outhouse

Nobody has an outhouse like the Gays. The Two Story Outhouse in Gays, Illinois is a proud landmark for locals and quite the tourist attraction. Originally built in 1872 by Samuel Gammill, he wanted a two story outhouse to serve his store patrons as well as the apartments on the second floor. The store and apartments were torn down in 1984, leaving the outhouses standing all by themselves. With even an official blue highway sign welcoming visitors to the "Historical Two Story Outhouse 1872," this pit stop is definitely a bathroom break from the record books!

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#8 World's Largest Santa

North Pole, Alaska, not far from Fairbanks, has just 2,000 residents but is the home to one of the "World's Largets" attractions. Capitalizing on the town's name, they erected a 900lb statue of St. Nick which serves as a giant advertisement for the Santa Claus House, a place, like in your dreams, where Christmas never ends.

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#9 Empty Head Of Blind Justice

Visiting the city courthouse in Lafayette, Louisiana, you'll be greeted by the "Empty Head of Blind Justice" that lives true to its name featuring a blindfolded head that is missing everything above the brow. Built in 1999, the heads were originally known as the "Urns of Justice" because plants were supposed to be growing from their heads. But the locals never got around to planting anything in the 12 feet tall urns. They stand as they were built, attracting curious tourists as well as those about to be sentenced for crimes.

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#10 Bewitched Statue

Known for the place where the first American witches were located, and subsequently burned at the stake, Salem, Massachusettes is home to the Bewitched Statue. Despite being the place that lynched dozens of "witches" in 1692, the town ironically welcomed one of the friendliest witches in television history in 2005. TVLand wished to erect the statue of Samantha Stephens from Bewitched but came under fire from locals who thought it was distasteful. Reminded how much money and tourism The Andy Griffith statue brought to North Carolina, the residents quickly changed their minds. The statue sits in the downtown park.

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#11 Pegasus Statue

Moving from the magical to the mythical, the next stop on our list is in South Florida where tourists can find a statue of the glorious and powerful Pegasus slaying a dragon. This 110-foot tall statue in Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida was erected solely to lure tourists to the area. It cost $30 million to complete and stands 115 feet wide and 200 feet long, it includes luscious landscaping and a water feature.

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#12 Kaiser Paul

Michigan is widely known as the birthplace of the automobile and people there love their cars. Built entirely from scraps at a Detroit junkyard, Kaiser Paul, a Paul Bunyan statue made entirely of car parts, is located outside the Lumberjacks' arena at the Alpena Community College. The statue stands 30 feet tall and was built in the 1960s as an advertising campaign for a gas station named Paul Bunyan's Gas and Eat in Gaylord, Michigan. Michigan's Alpena Community College purchased the statue in 1999 and placed it outside the basketball arena to welcome fans to the games.

#13 Desert Of Maine

Maine isn't exactly the first state that comes to mind when people think of deserts. Created by man, and totally by accident, the desert is made of glacial silt and first came to existence after the Tuttle family purchased the land in 1797. Failing to rotate their crops as well as their sheep overgrazing, the soil eroded and exposed the glacial silt, which gave the land a desert-like appearance. Abandoned by the family in 1919 for $300, the desert was soon converted into a tourist attraction in 1925 and has been preserved ever since with recent additions of a gift shop and two museums.

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#14 Ear Of Corn Water Tower

The city of Rochester, Minnesota is home to yet another "World's Largest" product but this time it's a water tower shaped like a giant ear of corn. The tank holds 50,000 gallons of water and sits on 3rd Avenue next to the local Seneca Foods Plant. Constructed in 1931 and serving as a modern and practical landmark and relic, Rochester's golden tower has rivaled a neighboring town's corn water tower to keep its beloved title as "World's Largest Ear of Corn." It stands a whopping 60 feet tall and can be spotted from just about anywhere.

#15 Peachoid

The second water tower listed in this wacky trip, Rochester's Ear of Corn tower is only outdone by the Peachoid, a 135-foot water tower in the town of Gaffney, South Carolina that makes the Ear of Corn seem bite-sized. The gargantuan peach can be spotted for miles along Interstate 85 as it stands triumphantly for all to see, holding over 1 million gallons of water! Built in 1981 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, the peach is the state fruit, despite claims that Georgia is the Peach State. The feud continues.

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#16 Souvenir Travel Plate

The small rural town of Lucas, Kansas has been dubbed by the 340 locals as the Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas. Lucas is a community known for its folk art and as the home of the World's Largest Souvenir Travel Plate, which was constructed in 2006 by local artist Erika Nelson. It is made from a retired 14-foot satellite dish and has been designed as a welcome sign to the town. The artwork is full of symbolism and the history of the area and it typically draws a lot of tourists during the Summer who wish to get a glimpse of the giant painted dish.

#17 Hole N The Rock

Believe it or not, this giant rock is a tourists bonanza! With a name that doesn't give too much away, this spot in Moab is actually a 14-room cave-house and gift shop carved into the stone in the 1940s. With no rhyme or reason, it also houses a small zoo, a ton of Native American pottery, and the largest collection of Lyle Nichols metal art sculptures. The billboards for almost 100 miles on every roadway leading to the giant rock are sure to catch your eye and make you pull off to see just what this hole is all about.

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#18 Cadillac Ranch

This "sculpture" is located in Amarillo, Texas, along the highway heading into the city. Pretty much the most OCD junkyard you've ever seen, Cadillac Ranch consists of 10 upside-down Cadillacs half-buried in middle of the desert, allegedly tilted at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Of course, it is very eye catching and draws loads of tourists who want to see WTF it is.

#19 World's Largest Ball of Stamps

You'll have to travel to Boys Town, Nebraska if you want a glimpse of the Worlds Largest Ball Of Stamps, and who doesn't? The ball consists of 4,655,00 stamps and weighs 600lbs and has a diameter of 32 inches. Whoever did all that licking must be sick!

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#20 The World's Largest Ball of Twine

The World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas is a roadside attraction that has been around since the 1960s. It's a ball of twine folks. Really.

#21 Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue

Yes, out former US President was a peanut farmer before taking the highest office in the land. And his hometown of Plains, GA is cashing in on that with this oddball attraction. This mildly unnerving, 13-foot statue of a toothy nut was originally erected by the Indiana Democratic Party to honor the peanut-farmer-turned-presidential hopeful as he campaigned around the Hoosier State during the 1976 campaign. It later was moved to Plains and gets a lot of tourists who want a selfie with the happy nut.

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#22 Salvation Mountain

This trippy, 50-foot hill in the California desert that's been covered in 100,000 gallons of paint, Salvation Mountain's an art exhibit slash "tribute to God" from artist Leonard Knight. Located in Calipatra, CA, Knight spent the better part of 30 years painting born-again biblical messages on the mountain until he passed away last year. Adorned with a 30 foot cross at the very top, the hill is easily spotted from the air and a colorful attraction.

#23 Mammy’s Cupboard

Mammy's Cupboard in Natchez, Mississippi is a popular attraction not only because it's a giant Mammy, be because it is also a restaurant with real southern cooking and a museum featuring things from the history of the deep South. This not-very-PC roadside restaurant was founded in 1940 and repainted in a lighter skin tone during the Civil Rights Movement. The racism aside, it does not stop people from visiting the attraction, and the restaurant portion is booked with reservations for over a full year in advance.