Peace Candle of the World

A farm silo dressed as a giant candle became one of Oregon's best-known roadside oddities. Darrell Brock, who ran the Western Candle factory in the town, began it in 1969 on an old agricultural silo; the Columbia County Spotlight reported in 2015 that he was inspired by Disneyland's props and designs. According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, he wrapped the silo in wire mesh and piped hot wax over it, and the Candle was initially coated with 45,000 pounds of multicoloured wax. It was lit on Mother's Day, 9 May 1971, by Brock and Governor Tom McCall, with an estimated crowd of 5,000. The Spotlight said it was billed as the largest candle in the world.

Brock's Western Candle business is long gone, the Oregon Encyclopedia says, but the Candle remained. The Spotlight reports that the factory burned down in 1990. The gas flame gave way to an electronic one, and by 2015, according to the Spotlight, neon flames flickered atop the silo. The Oregon Encyclopedia says a later owner replaced the wax with gunite, a cement, sand and water mixture, with a neon flame in place of the wick, and that Weather.com chose it in 2015 as Oregon's “Most Incredible Roadside Attraction”.