World's Largest Swedish Coffee Pot & Coffee Cup | Stanton, IA
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Somehow I blinked and it’s already April. The trees are budding, flower are beginning to poke through the soil, temperatures are rising and it feels like summer (with all its busy plans) is around the next corner.
If you’re like me and are feeling like you need a little extra caffeine to get your to do list knocked out (or, let’s be real, even started) these days, this week’s double feature is for you. Today, I’m excited to share two oversized attractions from one tiny Iowa town with you: the World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot and World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Cup in Stanton, Iowa.
Fast Facts: World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot
Built: 1971
Height: Formerly 125 feet tall
Capacity: 40,000 gallons
Fun Fact: The World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot is big enough to hold 640,000 cups of coffee.
Fast Facts: World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Cup
Built: 2000
Height: 95 feet tall
Capacity: 150,000 gallons
Fun Fact: The World’s Largest Coffee Cup could hold an impressive 2.4 million cups of coffee.
The History of the World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Cup & Pot
You’ve probably never heard for Virginia Christine. But depending on how old you are, you might recognize her as Mrs. Olson from Folgers’ retro TV commercials. As I’ve found to often be true: Mrs. Olson had an Iowa connection.
Christine just happened to be a native of the small southwest Iowa town of Stanton. So, the community decided to pay tribute to its most famous resident with a wonderfully unique water tower. In 1971, the southwest Iowa town’s water tower was transformed into a Swedish coffee pot — complete with handle, spout and top knob — in Christine’s honor. When it was in use, the World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot1 held about 40,000 gallons (or 640,000 cups of coffee).
Even after a few decades, Stanton couldn’t get enough of its Swedish heritage. So, in 2000, the town erected the World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Cup. This coffee cup and saucer still stands as a 95-foot-tall water tower, which holds 150,000 gallons (or an impressive 2.4 million cups of coffee).
In early 2014, Stanton residents rallied in an attempt to save the aging World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot after it was declared a liability. Finally, the town came to a solution. In 2015, the water tower was lowered. Then the coffee pot tank was relocated to the grounds of the Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center where visitors and alike could continue to enjoy it in all its splendor.
Plan Your Visit
Today, you can find the iconic Swedish coffee pot on the lawn of the Swedish Heritage & Cultural Center. The center is open to visitors from April through October and highlights various aspects of the community’s Swedish heritage.
The giant coffee cup still sits at its original location on the south edge of town.
Address: World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Pot, Swedish Heritage & Cultural Center, 410 Hilltop Ave., Stanton, IA 51573
Address: World’s Largest Swedish Coffee Cup, Corner of Hilltop & Highland Avenues, Stanton, IA 51573
Related Links
If you didn’t know, Stanton’s unique tributes to its Swedish heritage are just two of the 84 unusual spots featured in my second book, Secret Iowa: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. If you know someone who loves to explore the Hawkeye State, I personally think it makes a great gift.
While Stanton’s coffee pot is the largest with a Swedish design, the official World’s Largest Coffee Pot can be found in Bedford, Pennsylvania. This unique building, known as the Koontz Coffee Pot, has been a community icon since the 1920s.