If you’re planning your next road trip and looking for something unusual that the Griswold family might visit, Alexandria has you covered. This little town in Madison County has one of the quirkiest attractions you’ll find in the whole state: the World’s Largest Ball of Paint.
Its origins go back to the late 1960s, when Michael Carmichael was working in a paint shop tossing a baseball around. The ball unexpectedly landed in a can of paint and came out coated with a new color. It became a fun tradition at work—letting it dry and then dipping it again. He tracked the layers up until it hit 1,000. It then went to live in a children’s home where it was a conversation piece that people marveled at.
In 1977, Carmichael started a new ball of paint, this time as a father-and-son project. The baseball got its first coat on January 1 and layers have been getting added on ever since. Eventually it became a world record holder and got its own little building. The ball has hit a weight of close to 12,000 pounds with over 30,000 coats of paint.
It isn’t just a fun, huge sight to behold, it’s a world record that you can contribute to. People have come from over 100 different countries to leave their mark on the big ball. It has also been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
If you’d like to visit and do a little painting, you can contact the Carmichael family at (765)724-4088 or WorldsLargestBOP@yahoo.com. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. You can leave with a certificate verifying your visit and what coat number you painted and sign your name on the wall.
