Green River, UT watermelon.

Watermelons

There are way too many Watermelon Capitals around the US. The claims are hazy, conflicting, and hard to care about. So naturally, we gravitate to towns with tangible attractions.

Take the giant watermelon statue in Green River, Utah. It's 25 feet long, constructed over sixty years ago to celebrate the town's Watermelon Days festival, held every August. The watermelon was motorized for a time (it's hollow and has a door in its side), but the engine is broken and has never been repaired. The statue is still regularly repainted, and a fixture at the celebration.

Luling, TX watermelon water tower.

Our night visit to the city park in Dilley, Texas, bore bitter fruit. Dilley calls itself the " Self-proclaimed Watermelon Capital of Texas. [More]

Luling, Texas does a better job with their impressive Watermelon water tower, and amusing conversions of old oil drills into watermelon tributes and other cartoon scenes. Luling holds the Watermelon Thump car rally, seed-spitting competitions, and a Watermelon Queen pageant the last weekend in June. The celebration has been going since 1953.

Hope, Arkansas, the town that produced 100 lb+ watermelons and Bill Clinton, also boasts a Watermelon water tower, and displays a replica watermelon (that once held the world record) in the visitors center. In northwestern Arkansas in the town of Bald Knob, for many years a roadside vendor advertised his produce with a giant watermelon on the back of a flatbed truck. Just north of it in Cave City, AR is another trailer-mounted watermelon.

A pathetic watermelon monument commemorates a historic visit to "the only city ever named for Abraham Lincoln with his personal consent"... Lincoln, Illinois.

Also see: Salad of the Gods

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World's 2nd Largest Watermelon Slice

Address:: 1765 Main St., Green River, UT
Directions:: Parked under an open-air shed next to the John Wesley Powell Museum. On the north side of US Hwy 70/Main St., just east of the bridge across the Green River.
Admission:: Free
RA Rates:: Worth a Detour

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Watermelon Thump and Water Tower

Address:: Hwy 183, Luling, TX
Directions:: North of I-10 along US 183. Water tower on the east side of town, just south of US-183 (E Pierce St), behind the police dept (1900 E Pierce St).
Hours:: Festival end of June (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Phone:: 830-875-3214
RA Rates:: Worth a Detour

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Giant Watermelon

Directions:: North Main St./Hwy 167 just north of Terrie Dr. On wheels, so be prepared for disappointment.
Hours:: July 2015: Reported gone. Moved somewhere.
Status:: Gone

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Bill Clinton And Big Melons

Hope City Visitor Center and Museum

Address:: 100 E. Division St., Hope, AR
Directions:: At the Hope City Visitor Center and Museum. I-30 exit 30 onto US 278/Hwy 4/Hervey St. south. Left just after the railroad overpass onto Division St., then four blocks to the Museum.
Phone:: 870-722-2580

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