American Roadside Attractions

The Oldest Roadside Attractions In The United States

Part of the mythology of the United States is the open road—an interstate highway system linking states from coast to coast. As Americans became mobile with increased car ownership, entrepreneurs met the challenge with motels, diners, and roadside attractions. Sometimes epic, often kitsch, these tourist destinations dot the continental US maps and have become an iconic part of hitting the road.

Mitchell Corn Palace (Mitchell, South Dakota)

Rural attractions are a big part of local cultures, emphasizing the flora and fauna of specific regions. One of the oldest of these is the Mitchell Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, constructed with natural grasses and a variety of different colors and shades of corn. Established in 1892 and billed as The World's Only Corn Palace, it’s a permanent building decorated with crop art and murals, with new designs constructed each year.

Runner1928, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Lucy The Elephant (Margate City, New Jersey)

First constructed in 1881 as a way to attract potential property buyers to his holdings, James V Lafferty, Jr’s Lucy the Elephant stands six stories in height. Made of wood and tin, Lucy is the oldest surviving roadside tourist attraction in the US and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Paul Bunyan And Babe The Blue Ox (Bemidji, Minnesota)

A pair of cement statues depicting American folk hero Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe were created to celebrate the Bemidji Winter Carnival in 1937. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, they are supposedly the second-most photographed sculptures in the US, after Mount Rushmore. The Paul Bunyan figure is approximately 18 feet tall while Babe the Blue Ox is about 10 feet tall and 23 feet from nose to tail.

Kubber333, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Big Duck (Flanders, New York)

Duck farmers Martin and Jeule Maurer constructed a duck-shaped building (20 feet tall and 30 feet in length) to sell ducks to passing motorists. Made of reinforced plaster over a metal mesh, the building inspired the use of the word “duck” in architectural studies to refer to buildings shaped like everyday objects. The Big Duck is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Teapot Dome Historic Gas Station (Zillah, Washington)

The Teapot Dome Historic Gas Station is a former functioning gas station built in 1922 and shaped like a teapot. It was built as a satire on the Teapot Dome Scandal during the presidency of Warren G Harding (1921-1923). It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Iflorea, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bodie Ghost Town (Bridgeport, California)

Bodie, California (established in 1875) was a gold mining town east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which, at its peak, had a population of 8,000 and had 2,000 structures. When the gold was exhausted, the town fell into a sharp decline and was described as a ghost town by 1915 and completely abandoned in the 1940s. Listed as a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark, the Bodie Ghost Town attracts 200,000 visitors each year.

Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Haines Shoe House (Hellam, Pennsylvania)

Like many buildings shaped like objects, the Haines Shoe House was built to look like what it sold. Specifically, it was built by Mahlon Haines in 1948 to promote his shoe stores. Since then, the Haines has been used as an ice cream shop and a museum and most recently, it has been used as vacation rental.

A. L. Spangler, Shutterstock

Wall Drug Store (Wall, South Dakota)

What do you do if you have a drug store in the middle of nowhere but within reach of Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and Rapid City? You provide something worth the trip, and the Hustead family did just that in 1935, offering “free ice water” to thirsty travelers in a marketing campaign utilizing successive billboards letting drivers know how close they are to Wall Drug Store and its free water. Since then, Wall Drug Store has expanded into a collection of cowboy-themed stores, a gift shop, several restaurants, and an art gallery, all under one roof.

Konrad Summers, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Carhenge (Alliance, Nebraska)

A more recent roadside attraction, in 1987, Jim Reinders built a replica of Stonehenge using cars. Reinders studied the design and purpose of Stonehenge and remained faithful to its size and layout, utilizing cars instead of stones.

Jacob C. Kamholz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Desert Of Maine (Freeport, Maine)

The Atlantic coast of the United States is not known for its deserts and in fact, the Desert of Maine did not occur naturally, nor was it purposely created. 20 acres of dunes were created as a result of poor farming practices in the 19th century, rendering the land barren. Abandoned by the late 19th century, entrepreneur Henry Goldrup purchased the seemingly worthless land and opened it to tourists.

Bigmacthealmanac, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Paper House (Rockport, Massachusetts)

Engineer Elis F Stenman built himself a summer home between 1922 and 1924 and after the wooded frame was erected, he decided to leave the walls unclad and instead used varnished newspapers (originally meant to be insulation) to form the walls. He added furniture made from rolled newspaper and by 1927, the house was a tourist attraction.

Daderot, Wikimedia Commons

Milk Bottle Grocery (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

Sometimes, it’s not the building shaped like an object but rather a sign adorning a building advertising its wares. Built in 1930, the Milk Bottle Grocery is a wedge-shaped red brick building near the historic Route 66. In 1948, the giant milk bottle sign was added. Since that time, a number of businesses have used the building but the milk bottle has been maintained.

Carol M. Highsmith, Wikimedia Commons

Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas)

The art collective Ant Farm was founded in 1968, working in architecture, graphic design, video, and environmental art. In 1974, they created the environmental art piece Cadillac Ranch, 10 Cadillacs buried nose-first in a field, using the same angle as the Pyramids of Giza. Originally installed near Route 66, the piece was moved as the city of Amarillo expanded.

Richie Diesterheft, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Hole ‘N’ The Rock (Moab, Utah)

Hole ‘N’ The Rock is a roadside attraction centered around a home carved out of a sandstone cliff by Albert Christensen and his family starting in 1940. The family moved into the home in 1952 and after Albert’s death, it was opened to public tours. Since then, a petting zoo and gift shops have been added.

Jayron32, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

World’s Largest Pheasant (Huron, South Dakota)

A pheasant made of fiberglass and steel was erected in 1959 to commemorate the region as a pheasant hunting capital. Standing 28 feet tall and weighing 22 tons, the pheasant has become a tourist destination.

Ammodramus, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Enchanted Highway (Regent, North Dakota)

In the 1980s, artist Gary Greff started a series of metal sculptures and placed them along the I-94. To revive the fortunes of his hometown of Regent, North Dakota, these massive sculptures of flying geese, deer, grasshoppers, and fish were erected along the highway.

Skvader, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Shell Gas Station (Winston Salem, North Carolina)

This formerly functioning gas station was constructed in 1930 by Quality Oil Company, which distributed Shell gasoline and wanted to create brand awareness. In the shape of a yellow shell, the Shell Gas Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

World’s Largest Ball Of Twine (Cawker City, Kansas)

Sometimes, roadside attractions are the unintended result of some obsessive behavior. In 1953, farmer Frank Stoeber was looking to dispose of the old twine on his barn floor and began forming a ball of twine. At over 8 feet in diameter, the giant ball was donated to Cawker City, Kansas in 1961. The ball was listed by the Guinness World Records as the largest ball of twine in 1973 and on Stoeber’s death in 1974, the community took over adding to the ball. In a specially built open-air gazebo, every August, a “Twine-a-thon” is held to add more twine and as of 2025, the diameter of the ball is over 14 feet and over 27,000 pounds.

Andrew Bogott, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Grotto Of The Redemption (West Bend, Iowa)

Created from rocks, minerals, and precious and semi-precious stones, the Grotto of the Redemption is a shrine built by Father Paul Dobberstein starting in 1912. It was completed in 1952 and the Grotto is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ben Franske, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Rock City (Lookout Mountain, Georgia)

What was first planned as a residential community in 1924 by Garnet Carter, was transformed instead into a rock garden by Carter’s wife, Frieda. Opened to the public in 1932, Rock City grew as a tourist attraction thanks to an advertising campaign consisting of the slogan “See Rock City” painted on barn roofs throughout the Southeast and Midwest United States. By 1969, over 900 barns in 19 states advertised Rock City.

Asdaiang14453, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

World's Largest Chest Of Drawers (High Point, North Carolina)

High Point, North Carolina billed itself as the Furniture Capital of the World. In 1926, to call attention to High Point and its furniture, a 36-foot-high chest of drawers was built. Two giant socks, commemorating the area’s hosiery manufacturing history, hang out of one of the drawers. A second dresser, over 80 feet in height, was built in the late 90s nearby.

James Kirkikis, Shutterstock

Dinosaur Land (White Post, Virginia)

First opened in 1963 as a gift shop called Rebel Korner, entrepreneur Joseph Geraci renamed it Dinosaur Land in 1967 with a display of five wire mesh and fiberglass dinosaurs. Some dinosaurs had moving features, although those were scrapped due to difficult maintenance. The park now features over 50 life-sized dinosaurs.

Skvader, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

World's Largest Catsup Bottle (Collinsville, Illinois)

The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is exactly what you would expect. Built in 1949 for the GS Suppiger Catsup bottling plant, the bottle is a water tower. At 70 feet in height, it has a volume of 100,000 gallons, which is the equivalent of 640,000 bottles of catsup.

Pxhere, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Golden Driller Statue (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

A 76-foot-tall statue called the Golden Driller was created by the Mid-Continental Supply Company for the 1953 International Petroleum Exposition. After the exposition, the statue was donated to the city of Tulsa and it became a state monument in 1979.

The Erica Chang, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Dinosaur Park (Rapid City, South Dakota)

One of the earliest dinosaur-themed roadside attractions, Dinosaur Park opened in the early 1930s. The park was part of the Works Progress Administration, a governmental organization to provide work during the Great Depression. The site was chosen after dinosaur bones and footprints were discovered in the area.

Jana Taylor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

World's Largest Buffalo Monument (Jamestown, North Dakota)

At 26 feet in height and weighing in at 60 tons, the World's Largest Buffalo Monument was built in 1959, welcoming visitors to the North American Bison Discovery Center, which contains a replica frontier village and a live herd of buffalo. Visible from Interstate 94, the sculpture is made from stucco and cement around a steel beam frame shaped by wire mesh. It is modeled after a male bison in mid-stride and it is anatomically correct.

daveynin, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids (Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida)

This underwater show has been running for over six decades at the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida. The Weeki Wachee Springs are themselves a natural tourist attraction and the Mermaids are women wearing fishtails who perform in an aquarium-like setting.

Leonard J. DeFrancisci, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cabazon Dinosaurs (Cabazon, California)

The Cabazon Dinosaurs are another dinosaur-themed roadside attraction. This one was opened in 1964 near Palm Springs, California by restauranteur Claude Bell to draw attention to his restaurant.

Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Route 66

This iconic highway is itself an attraction, running 2,400 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Route 66, made famous in films, television, and music, contains many notable roadside attractions. There are more than 250 buildings and other sites along Route 66 listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

General Sherman Tree (Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, California)

Not all roadside attractions are humanmade kitsch. Named General Sherman, this giant sequoia tree is in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. It is the largest living tree in the world and is also the largest living organism by volume on Earth. At 2,100 years of age, General Sherman is a natural wonder and is heavily protected from both natural and human-made disasters.

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m01229, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

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