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The world's tallest filing cabinet and 9 other bizarre attractions

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Image: Queensland University of Technology, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image: Queensland University of Technology, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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The world's tallest filing cabinet and 9 other bizarre attractions

You’ve seen countless noble, serious statues of presidents and war heroes —but if you know where to look, you’ll discover monuments made in tribute to inanimate, everyday objects. Think giant paper cups, pierogies, carrots, and more. Here are 10 of the strangest monuments to add to your bucket list.

In the town of Kojonup, residents wanted to honor the industry that built their town, so a massive wool wagon sits proudly as a tribute to the sheep farming that once fueled the local economy. It’s a full-scale monument that commemorates the days when wool was king.

The city of Muscatine decided that a standard fruit display simply wouldn't do. Living by the "go big or go home" mantra, they installed the world’s largest watermelon slice in Riverside Park. This vibrant, 40-foot-long monument celebrates the town’s rich agricultural heritage in the brightest way possible, serving as a giant tribute to the local melon industry.

You know how people say everything is bigger in Texas? That may be true, but other states are certainly giving the Lone Star State a run for its money. Take Riverside in California, for example, where you can find a 68-foot "paper cup" monument. The towering tribute stands to honor the local disposable cup industry, which was once a powerhouse of the city's economy.

High Point in North Carolina shows off with the world’s largest chest of drawers. Standing nearly 40 feet tall, the dresser even features a giant pair of socks dangling from one of its drawers, a whimsical nod to the city’s hosiery industry. Only natural to have a monument of this kind in the city that is the "Furniture Capital of the World," right?

In Alexandria, Indiana, what began as a standard baseball has been covered in tens of thousands of coats of paint over the years. Visitors can even add their own layers to the ever-expanding sphere. Today, the ball weighs over 11,600 pounds and has over 30,000 coats of different colors. It holds an official Guinness World Record and continues to grow daily, one colorful coat at a time.

If you’re a pierogi lover, you need to put this on your bucket list. In Glendon, Alberta, there’s a massive tribute to the Polish dumpling, a 27-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture that weighs approximately 6,000 pounds. The roadside landmark honors the region’s deep Eastern European roots and proves that even comfort food deserves its own monument.

Outside the Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton, there’s a spool of thread with more than a million yards wrapped around it. That’s enough thread to circle a few small towns, and it’s a nod to the quilters everywhere who know that big projects must start with one small stitch.

The town of Darwin takes the twine very seriously. One local man spent 29 years rolling it into a 12-foot-wide, 17,400-pound giant ball. While it’s hard to imagine the dedication required for such a feat, you don't have to; pay a visit and see for yourself!

Anyone who has spent their career in an office knows how useful filing cabinets are. Denizens of Burlington, Vermont, consider them so useful that this office staple has been elevated to an art form. And so they’ve installed a 38-drawer filing cabinet that claims to be the tallest on Earth.

As we’ve seen, some food items are so special that they must be honored. Ohakune in New Zealand felt that way about carrots, given that they have a long and proud history of farming the vegetable. As a result, now you can visit the largest carrot model in the world.