The Strangest Tourist Attraction in Every State

A relic from a 1970’s tourist attraction called Nature Acres, this 80-foot long sperm whale with a slide and diving platform attached was originally the centerpiece in a pond open to swimming. Dedicated fans maintain the concrete sculpture and paint it every few years.

Opened in the 1930, the Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery is one of the oldest “gravitational hills” (also called mystery spots) in America, where slanted buildings and geographical features create gravity-defying illusions, such as balls that appear to roll uphill.

Built in 1948 by the millionaire owner of Haines Shoe Co., the Shoe House was originally an advertising platform and a very expensive billboard. Haines let honeymooning couples from nearby towns stay in the house for free, and even gave them a maid, cook, and chauffeur. The shoe is now a museum dedicated to company founder Mahlon Haines.

New England pest control company Big Blue Bug Solutions paid $20,000 for the right to say it has the world’s largest bug. Also known as Nibbles Woodaway, the nine-foot-tall, 58-foot-long blue termite, made of fiberglass in 1980, sits on the company’s roof and can be seen from I-95 in Providence.

The world’s largest fire hydrant was created by artist named Blue Sky (ne Warren Edward Johnson) for the city of Columbia. The city wanted another piece of original artwork from him, since he had created the city’s “Tunnelvision” mural. Blue Sky worked in secret for months. To great fanfare, it was unveiled on Feb. 18, 2001, on live, local television – a 40-foot-tall, 675,000-pound fire hydrant, which once worked as a fountain.