Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
Try:
The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
›
Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
›
Historic Sites39 places, from Fort Steuben and Zoar to Camp Chase and the Rankin House, from the frontier to the Civil War.
›
Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
›
Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
›
Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
›
Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
›
Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
›

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia27 places277 places77 places73 places35 places519 places1913 places1319 places1916 places168 places810 places1010 places109 places98 places820 places204 places43 places3Barkcamp State Park4 places47 places77 places76 places69 places917 places173 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places2Forked Run State Park3 places32 places26 places610 places103 places32 places2

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

117 parks in 7 regions

World's Largest Teapot

Chester · Hancock County, West Virginia
Giant object · Just over the line in West Virginia

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Approximate location, use the address
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A 14-foot teapot on the West Virginia bank of the Ohio River, built from a root-beer barrel that once belonged to the inventor of the banana split.

Started as
A large wooden barrel built to advertise Hires Root Beer, in the Pittsburgh area in the early 1900s
Golf clubhouse
Later the clubhouse of a miniature-golf course, where Latrobe pharmacist David Strickler, often credited with inventing the banana split, cut in windows and a door
Became a teapot
In 1938, when Babe Devon bought the barrel, moved it to Chester and added a tin spout, lid, handle and glass-ball knob
Size
About 14 feet tall and 14 feet across
Business
Sold ice cream, hot dogs, postcards and china until it closed as a shop around 1980
Moved and restored
Relocated to its current spot near the Jennings Randolph Bridge in 1990, with further restorations in 2007 and 2015

The story

The Chester teapot did not start out as a teapot. It began as an oversized wooden barrel, built in the Pittsburgh area in the early 1900s to advertise Hires Root Beer, and it later became the clubhouse of a miniature-golf course called Big Barrel Links, where the Latrobe pharmacist David Strickler, often credited with inventing the banana split, cut windows and a door into its side. In 1938 a local businessman named Babe Devon bought the barrel and hauled it across the state line to Carolina Avenue in Chester, West Virginia, on the Ohio River across from East Liverpool, Ohio. Anticipating that a new highway would soon bring travelers past the spot, Devon turned the barrel into a giant teapot, adding a tin spout, lid, handle and a glass-ball knob, as a novelty meant to draw attention to the region's pottery industry, which at its peak counted more than 200 potteries in the Chester and East Liverpool area.

For decades the teapot was a working roadside business, selling ice cream, hot dogs, postcards and china, before it closed as a shop around 1980 and passed through several owners while it fell into disrepair. The local telephone company bought the property in 1984, and in 1990 the community moved and restored the teapot to its current site near the Jennings Randolph Bridge ramp, with further repainting and repairs funded by the city in 2007 and 2015. In 2025 a newly built teapot in Navasota, Texas, claimed a larger size, ending Chester's long run as the record holder; the city did not contest the measurement and instead leaned into its status as, in its own words, the original.

One outlier source gives different dimensions (12 feet high by 44 feet wide); most sources, including West Virginia tourism materials, agree on about 14 by 14 feet, which is used here. The address is approximate.

Visiting

Status
Roadside; visible any time
Hours
Outdoor roadside structure, viewable at any time; it no longer operates as a shop.
Cost
Free to look.
Phone
Chester City Hall, 304-387-2820
Please note
Pull off along the road to view and photograph it; Chester holds an annual Teapot Day fundraiser each August for its upkeep.
Address
Carolina Ave near the Jennings Randolph Bridge ramp, Chester, WV 26034
More information →DirectionsShow on the map

The pin on the map is approximate; use the address for directions.

Hours, prices and even the attractions themselves can change. Confirm before a long drive.

Parks nearby

Beaver Creek State Park
About 10 miles · A gorge park with camping near East Liverpool.
Open
Jefferson Lake State Park
About 17 miles · A small lake park near Richmond, Ohio.
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.