Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Giant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
Kewaunee, WI
A four-faced clock tower built to resemble an enormous grandfather clock stands near the Kewaunee harbor. The whimsical structure functions as public art, a timepiece and one of the city's signature landmarks.
Baker, CA
Baker’s 134-foot electric thermometer was created by businessman Willis Herron to commemorate the 134°F temperature recorded in nearby Death Valley. The first version was built in 1991 but toppled in high winds before opening, and the rebuilt structure was illuminated in October 1992; it remains a prominent I-15 roadside landmark.
Danbury, CT
A gigantic fiberglass Uncle Sam towers over the Danbury Railway Museum property. The roughly 38-foot figure is a classic product of the giant roadside-statue era and returned to Danbury after spending years at other locations.
Alexandria, IN
Mike Carmichael began the Ball of Paint on January 1, 1977 by repeatedly coating a baseball, eventually turning it into a multiton object with tens of thousands of paint layers. The Alexandria attraction is still an active family project, and visitors who arrange a visit can add their own coat of paint and receive a certificate.
Casey, IL
Casey’s enormous mailbox was built to satisfy Guinness requirements as a genuinely functional mailbox: visitors can climb the stairs inside and mail letters that raise its working red flag. Created during Casey’s mid-2010s Big Things expansion, it remains a free downtown attraction at 19 West Main Street.
Casey, IL
Casey’s 56-foot, 46,200-pound rocking chair took two years to complete and officially claimed its record on October 20, 2015 after ten people demonstrated that it could actually rock. It is now fixed in place and remains a free outdoor centerpiece of Casey’s walkable collection of giant objects.
Valdez, AK
One of Alaska's most road-accessible glaciers can be viewed from the Richardson Highway recreation site. Current trail conditions can restrict movement beyond the main viewing area, so travelers should follow state-posted closures rather than approaching unstable ice on their own.
Pullman, WA
Washington State University's research center keeps grizzly bears for long-term studies of nutrition, hibernation, and physiology. There are no conventional zoo-style formal tours; public viewing opportunities depend on current seasonal conditions and center rules.
Greenfield, NH
This giant six-story trebuchet was built to hurl pumpkins hundreds of feet during the era of competitive pumpkin chunking. Yankee Siege retired from regular operation in 2010 but remains an enormous reminder of one of New England's stranger engineering hobbies. It is on private property with no-trespassing restrictions, so OddWay should treat it as roadside-view-only.
Badlands National Park, SD
Bands of yellow, purple, gray and red sediment create one of the strangest color shifts in Badlands National Park. The formations expose an ancient weathered soil layer and look dramatically different from the pale pinnacles elsewhere in the park.
Salem, MA
An entire late-Qing-dynasty merchant family's house was dismantled in China, shipped to Massachusetts and reconstructed inside the Peabody Essex Museum complex. The furnished house preserves generations of domestic architecture in an extraordinary transplanted setting.
San Francisco, CA
A bronze Yoda sits atop a fountain outside Lucasfilm's Letterman Digital Arts Center, creating a small Star Wars landmark in the Presidio.
Lincoln, DE
A cluster of restored vintage Yogi Bear/Jellystone character figures survives at the campground on Brick Granary Road. The figures preserve the look of mid-century family roadside attractions, but they sit on active campground property.
Hartsville, SC
Nearly every location in the short-lived Yogi Bear fast-food chain disappeared decades ago, but Hartsville still has the last operating Yogi Bear’s Honey Fried Chicken restaurant. The surviving cartoon-branded restaurant is an improbable piece of 1960s and 1970s franchise history that remains open in 2026.
Portsmouth, NH
A restored neon whale once advertised Yoken's restaurant, a longtime Portsmouth-area seafood landmark. Although the restaurant itself disappeared, the glowing whale was preserved and returned to the old property as a piece of roadside Americana. It is especially striking after dark and can be viewed from public roadside areas.
Richmond, RI
Young Boulder is a giant recycled-wood troll hidden near Browning Mill Pond in the Arcadia Management Area. Added in 2025, the sculpture requires a woodland walk and turns the search itself into part of the attraction. Follow current trail rules and do not climb on the sculpture.
Ypsilanti, MI
Built in 1890 from local stone, Ypsilanti's tall cylindrical water tower has become famous far beyond its engineering history because of its unmistakably suggestive shape. The National Register-listed structure remains an exterior roadside landmark; the tower itself is not a normal walk-in attraction.
Zanesville, OH
Zanesville's bridge over the confluence of the Licking and Muskingum rivers splits into three directions, creating the unusual Y shape that has defined the crossing for generations. The current structure is the fifth bridge at the location and can be driven across or viewed from nearby public riverfront areas.
Washington, DC
This small stone marker south of the White House was intended as the national point from which U.S. road distances would be measured.
Manchester, NH
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Zimmerman House as a compact Usonian home tailored closely to its owners, furnishings and landscape. The Currier Museum of Art now operates guided tours, giving visitors a rare chance to enter an intact Wright residence rather than only viewing it from outside. Tours are ticketed and depart under museum procedures; do not wander the residential neighborhood expecting independent access.
Franklin, NJ
A bronze miner holding a pick stands near the Franklin Mineral Museum entrance, representing generations who worked the area's exceptionally mineral-rich zinc deposits. The figure wears a carbide lamp and stands on a pile of rock as a memorial to Franklin's mining workforce.
