30 of the Oldest Roadside Attractions in the U.S. You Can Still Visit
What’s a road trip without stopping at roadside attractions? These pit stops can make every family vacation more memorable. Roadside attractions actually have a long history, with many built in the 1920s and 30s. Many of the oldest roadside attractions still can be visited today.
When travel by car became more affordable for many Americans in the 1920s and 30s, road trips were invented! In 1926, one of the first national highways for motor vehicles, when the iconic Route 66 was conceived. Running for more than 2,400 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, it helped fuel the lure of the open road, and families piled into the car to see the country.
Merchants in the communities along Route 66 and other highways jumped on the opportunity to bring much-needed cash to these often rural and isolated towns. They built restaurants, motels and interesting stop-overs with unique curiosities to entice weary travelers to eat, rest, and spend their money.
The attractions ran the gamut from giant elephants to concrete dinosaurs and everything in between. Sometimes, the architecture of these buildings mimicked what a company was selling or manufacturing, such as milk, catsup, or duck eggs. Some roadside attractions offered family-friendly entertainment to lure in travelers. Interestingly, many of these unique roadside attractions are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, meaning a place has been found to have historic value worth preserving.
Ready for your next family vacation or solo trip? So, pack your bags, load up the car, and stop to check out some of these oldest roadside attractions:
Mitchell Corn Palace (Mitchell, South Dakota)
Constructed with natural grasses and 13 different colors and shades of corn, Mitchell Corn Palace has been welcoming visitors for nearly 100 years. Established in 1892, it's long been welcoming visitors to tour its corn murals and artwork for free.
Lucy the Elephant (Margate City, New Jersey)
Standing six stories high, Lucy the Elephant was constructed in 1881 by James V. Lafferty, Jr., to attract visitors and property buyers to his holdings. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (Bemidji, Minnesota)
Built in 1937 as a way to celebrate the Bemidji Winter Carnival, Paul Bunyan and Babe were an immediate tourist sensation when unveiled! They're also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Big Duck (Flanders, New York)
Built in 1931, Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer and his wife Jeule decided to construct a giant duck-shaped building to sell ducks they raised to passing motorists. The building is 30 feet from beak to tail and 20 feet tall.
Teapot Dome Historic Gas Station (Zillah, Washington)
Built in 1922 after the Harding Administration's Teapot Dome Scandal (which involved illegal selling of oil fields), this adorable gas station is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bodie Ghost Town (Bridgeport, California)
Bodie State Historic Park is a California gold-mining ghost town. The town once boasted 2,000 structures and roughly 8,000 people when gold was discovered in 1875. But the town was a bust by 1881 and abandoned in the 1940s.
Haines Shoe House (Hellam, Pennsylvania)
Built in 1948, this house is shaped like a work boot. Mahlon Haines built it to promote his shoe stores, and it has been used as an ice cream shop, museum, and, most recently, a vacation rental.
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Wall Drug Store (Wall, South Dakota)
Located basically in the middle of nowhere when it opened in 1931, Wall Drug soon became an iconic stop for travelers to Rapid City, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands with its offer of "free ice water." With this ingenuity, the Hustead family turned an isolated stop into a popular tourist destination by 1935. It's just as loved and visited as ever today.
Carhenge (Alliance, Nebraska)
A replica of Stonehenge in cars seems like an unusual find on the Nebraska prairies. However, Jim Reinders, who studied the design and purpose of the real Stonehenge, created this monument in 1987.
Desert of Maine (Freeport, Maine)
The Desert of Maine consists of twenty acres of rolling sand dunes, caused by poor farming practices in the 19th century. The land was abandoned in the late 1800s, then purchased by entrepreneur Henry Goldrup to open as a tourist site. This privately owned tourist attraction has been welcoming visitors for 100 years.
Paper House (Rockport, Massachusetts)
Started in the summer of 1922 by Elis F. Stenman, a mechanical engineer who designed the machines that make paper clips, the Paper House was begun as a hobby. Today you can visit it and see both the house and its paper furniture!
Braum's Milk Bottle Building (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
The wedge-shaped red brick building was built in 1930, right off of iconic Route 66. In 1948, the milk bottle was added. Interestingly, the building has housed a number of businesses through the years. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas)
Created in 1974 by a collective of artists called the Ant Farm, Cadillac Ranch features ten Cadillacs buried nose-down in a field at the same angle as the Pyramids of Giza Pyramid. The inspiration was to pay homage to the legendary Route 66, which was originally placed on the highway, though the exhibit was later moved as the city of Amarillo expanded.
Hole N' The Rock (Moab, Utah)
Travel along U.S. Highway 191, and you'll find this historic 5,000-square-foot home, which is accurately described as Hole N' the Rock. The Christensen family started it almost a century ago. The home has a fireplace, 14 rooms, and original paintings, all displayed within the home, which required the removal of 50,000 cubic feet of sandstone from the rock.
Largest Pheasant Sculpture (Huron, South Dakota)
Erected in 1959, this 28-foot tall, 22 ton pheasant made of fiberglass and steel was built to acknowledge the region as a pheasant hunting capitol. It's since become a favorite photo opp.
Enchanted Highway (Regent, North Dakota)
Starting in the late 1980s, Artist Gary Greff began building a series of gigantic metal sculptures along I-94. His intention was to revive his hometown of Regent, after decades of population and economy decline. The sculptures include flying geese, a tin family, deer, grasshoppers and fish.
Shell Gas Station (Winston Salem, North Carolina)
This bright yellow building, which was a former Shell filling station was constructed in 1930. Now privately owned, it's still worth a fun photo opp.
World's Largest Ball of Twine (Cawker City, Kansas)
The ball was started in 1953 by farmer Frank Stoeber, who was looking for a way to contain all the old twine on his barn floor. The gigantic ball, was donated to Cawker City, Kansas in 1961. In 1973, Guinness World Records certified it was the largest ball of twine at the time (though others have since claimed the record).
Grotto of the Redemption (West Bend, Iowa)
The Grotto of the Redemption is a shrine depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. It's created entirely from rocks, minerals, and precious and semi-precious stones by Father Paul Dobberstein. Construction began in 1912 for a span of 52 years, and the grotto is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rock City (Lookout Mountain, Georgia)
Rock City was first conceived as a residential community by Garnet Carter in 1924. But his wife, Frieda, had other ideas, and she started creating a rock garden, which opened to the public by 1932. Carter then enlisted the help of a sign painter who traveled the nation and offered to paint a farmer’s barns in exchange for letting him paint "See Rock City" on the roof. The signs appeared as far north as Michigan and as far west as Texas throughout the '30s.
World's Largest Chest of Drawers (High Point, North Carolina)
Standing 36 feet high, the World's Largest Chest of Drawers was built in 1926 to call attention to High Point as the Furniture Capital of the World. Two large socks commemorate the area's hosiery manufacturing history.
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Dinosaur Land (White Post, Virginia)
If you like stone dinosaurs, a trip to Dinosaur Land is a memorable adventure. The park features more than 50 life-sized dinosaur statues that look as much as they did when it opened in 1963.
World's Largest Catsup Bottle (Collinsville, Illinois)
As you travel down Route 159, you'll see the World's Largest Catsup Bottle. Built in 1949 for the G.S. Suppiger Catsup bottling plant, which made Brooks Old Original Catsup, the water tower still stands as a perfect icon of American roadside art. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Golden Driller Statue (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Standing 76 feet tall, the Golden Driller was first erected by the Mid-Continental Supply Company at the 1953 International Petroleum Exposition. Following the show, the statue was donated to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds Trust Authority and was adopted as a state monument in 1979.
Dinosaur Park (Rapid City, South Dakota
Dinosaurs are a popular theme for roadside attractions, including this iconic park that dates to the 1930s. The park began as a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression after dinosaur bones and footprints were discovered in the region.
World's Largest Buffalo Monument (Jamestown, North Dakota)
This gigantic buffalo statue has been standing over Jamestown since 1959. The 26-foot-tall, 60-ton also welcomes visitors to the North American Bison Discovery Center, Frontier Village and and live herd of buffalo on site.
Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids (Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida)
For more than six decades, "mermaids" have performed underwater shows at Weeki Watchee Springs State Park. It's a classic roadside attraction that highlights the beauty of the aquamarine springs in this Florida state park.
Cabazon Dinosaurs (Cabazon, California)
Here's one more chance to see roadside dinosaurs! These giants, alongside Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, include a brontosaurus and a T. Rex. The first one was commissioned by Claude Bell in 1964 to attract attention to his restaurant. The second was added in the early 80s.
Route 66
Although not a stop itself, this iconic road, running for more than 2,400 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, is the reason many roadside attractions exist. Drive part of Route 66 to experience a few of the more than 250 buildings and other sites along the route that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
General Sherman Tree (Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, California)
If you're looking for a roadside attraction that isn't manmade, stop to visit the General Sherman Tree, a giant sequoia. It is not only the largest living tree in the world but the largest living organism, by volume, on the planet. General Sherman is about 2,100 years old. It doesn't get any older than that when it comes to roadside attractions!
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