McCaffrey's Toilet

Laytonville, California

John McCaffrey died in 2015, but his roadside toilet bowl swirls eternally in the hearts of townspeople and travelers.

The story goes that McCaffrey, at some forgotten date many years ago, was replacing a toilet in his house. On the spur of the moment, and for reasons no one can remember, he took the old toilet and placed it in the muddy field across from his US Highway 101 hobby shop. People found the toilet puzzling and would stop in the hobby shop to ask McCaffrey about it (He kept a "toilet journal" for visitors). They'd also walk through the muddy field to sit on the toilet while posing for photos. Over time, the toilet became better known than either McCaffrey or his business.

We don't get exactly why the toilet became famous, but that absolutely unremarkable piece of porcelain still sits in a field along the highway where John McCaffrey placed it.