One summer morning, we bought the last three "World's Largest Teapot" postcards from Chaney's Bait, the gas station/mini-mart across the street (in the interval we hope they've restocked).
The teapot stands on a manicured lawn between the elevated highway and the exit ramp. It is 12 feet high, 44 feet wide, originally built as a giant keg by William "Babe" Devon as part of a Hire's Root Beer ad promotion. It was brought to Chester in 1938 and converted into a teapot to trumpet the region's then vibrant pottery industry.
A major restoration of the Teapot in 1990 brought it to its current state, along with occasional repairs and repainting.
The Teapot is up at the top of the "stick" part of West Virginia (aka the "Northern Panhandle"), sandwiched between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The drive at night along Ohio's Hwy 7 makes it clear that Ohio is to West Virginia as the Dominican Republic is to Haiti. In Ohio it's all lights and activity and a big highway. Across the river in West Virginia it's pitch black. Perhaps the sliver of WV was deliberately preserved by Pennsylvania to provide a buffer between it and the many industrial metals plants on the Ohio side.
Chester's public library has a page describing the history of the Teapot. [Thanks to M. Buell for the library page link]
