Standing 170 feet tall along Route 159 in Collinsville, Illinois, the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is one of the most beloved roadside attractions in America. Officially known as the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower, this iconic structure has been a landmark of the Midwestern landscape since 1949. Whether you are a roadside Americana enthusiast, a catsup lover, or simply someone who appreciates the quirky side of small-town America, the Collinsville catsup bottle is a destination that delivers a surprising amount of history, charm, and photographic opportunity.
The History of the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower
The story of the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower begins with the W.E. Caldwell Company of Louisville, Kentucky, which designed and built the structure in 1949. It was commissioned by the Brooks Foods company, a catsup manufacturer that operated a bottling plant directly adjacent to the tower in Collinsville, Illinois. The tower was built not merely for novelty but to serve a practical purpose: it is a fully functional water tower with a 100,000-gallon capacity that supplied water to the Brooks plant and surrounding area.
What makes the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle architecturally remarkable is its design. Rather than painting a catsup bottle label onto a standard cylindrical water tower, the builders constructed the tower itself in the shape of a bottle. The structure consists of a steel tank mounted on a steel framework, with the distinctive narrowing neck and cap that make it unmistakably a bottle. At 170 feet from base to cap, it is the equivalent of a 17-story building and can be spotted from miles away on a clear day.
Brooks Foods: The Company Behind the Bottle
Brooks Foods was founded in the early 1900s and grew to become a significant regional producer of catsup and other tomato-based products. The Collinsville plant was the company’s primary manufacturing facility, and the catsup bottle water tower served as both infrastructure and advertisement. At its peak, Brooks was one of the most recognized catsup brands in the Midwest, competing with national giants like Heinz and Hunts.
The company changed hands several times over the decades, eventually being acquired by larger food corporations. Production at the Collinsville plant eventually ceased, and the original Brooks brand has largely faded from supermarket shelves. But the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower endured, becoming even more famous as a standalone attraction than it ever was as a piece of corporate branding.
Saving the Collinsville Catsup Bottle
By the 1990s, the Collinsville catsup bottle had fallen into disrepair. The paint was peeling, rust was spreading, and there was real concern that the structure might be demolished. Enter the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group, a dedicated band of local volunteers who organized fundraising efforts to save the landmark. Through bake sales, T-shirt sales, community donations, and grants, the group raised enough money to fund a complete restoration.
The restoration was completed in 1995 at a cost of approximately $80,000. Skilled painters and metalworkers carefully stripped the old paint, repaired structural damage, and applied a fresh coat of paint that restored the tower to its original 1949 appearance, complete with the Brooks Rich and Tangy Catsup label. The restoration effort was widely praised and drew national media attention, introducing the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle to a whole new audience.
National Register of Historic Places
The preservation efforts paid off in spectacular fashion when the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This designation recognized the tower not just as a novelty but as a significant example of mid-20th-century commercial architecture and American roadside culture. It joined a select group of unusual structures on the register, cementing its place in American history.
The historic designation also provided additional protections against demolition and helped the Collinsville catsup bottle qualify for preservation grants and resources. It transformed the tower from a local curiosity into a nationally recognized landmark with genuine cultural significance.
Visiting the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle
The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is located at 800 South Morrison Avenue in Collinsville, Illinois, just a few miles east of St. Louis, Missouri. The tower is visible from the road and there is a small parking area nearby where visitors can stop for photos. Admission is free, as the tower is a public landmark on private property that the owners generously allow visitors to enjoy.
The best time to visit for photographs is during golden hour, when the warm light makes the red and white paint of the bottle glow beautifully against the sky. The surrounding area is flat, so you can get great full-length shots from multiple angles. Many visitors report that the tower is even more impressive in person than in photographs, as the sheer scale of the structure takes you by surprise.
The Annual Catsup Bottle Festival
Every year on the second weekend of July, Collinsville hosts the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Festival, a celebration of the town’s most famous landmark. The festival features live music, food vendors with catsup-themed dishes, a catsup tasting competition, games, crafts, and a hot dog eating contest. There is a Little Miss and Little Mister Catsup Bottle pageant for children, and festival-goers can purchase an array of Collinsville catsup bottle merchandise including T-shirts, magnets, postcards, and miniature bottle replicas.
The festival has grown steadily since its inception and now draws visitors from across the country and even internationally. It has become a beloved summer tradition for the Collinsville community and a pilgrimage destination for roadside attraction enthusiasts. If you are planning a visit, the festival weekend offers the most complete experience, but the tower itself is worth a stop any time of year.
The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle in Pop Culture
The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle has made appearances in numerous travel guides, documentaries, and television shows about American roadside attractions. It has been featured on the Travel Channel, in Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and in countless magazine articles about quirky American landmarks. The tower has a strong presence on social media, where visitors share their photos and the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower regularly trends during festival season. It has also been referenced in various forms of entertainment, contributing to the broader legacy of catsup in popular culture.
Other Giant Food Landmarks
The Collinsville catsup bottle is part of a grand American tradition of oversized food landmarks that dot the highways and byways of the nation. From the Big Pineapple in Australia to the giant artichoke in Castroville, California, communities around the world have used supersized food sculptures to celebrate local industries and attract tourists. What sets the catsup bottle apart is its dual function as both artwork and working infrastructure, its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and the passionate community that has worked to preserve it for future generations.
Plan Your Visit
Whether you are driving through the St. Louis metro area, taking a road trip along the old Route 66 corridor, or specifically seeking out America’s greatest roadside attractions, the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle deserves a spot on your itinerary. It is a charming, photogenic, and surprisingly meaningful piece of Americana that celebrates the intersection of industry, community pride, and the simple joy of a beloved condiment. For more about the world of catsup, explore our guides on different types of catsup and proper catsup storage.
The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is located at 800 South Morrison Avenue in Collinsville, Illinois, just a few miles east of St. Louis, Missouri. Officially known as the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower, it was built in 1949 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is free to visit and open to the public year-round.
The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle stands 170 feet tall, equivalent to a 17-story building. It is a fully functional water tower with a 100,000-gallon capacity, built in the shape of a catsup bottle complete with a narrowing neck and cap. The structure was designed and built by the W.E. Caldwell Company of Louisville, Kentucky.
Yes, the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower is still standing and in excellent condition. It was fully restored in 1995 by the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group after falling into disrepair, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The tower continues to be a beloved roadside landmark and tourist attraction in Collinsville, Illinois.
Yes, the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle is free to visit and accessible year-round. There is a small parking area nearby where visitors can stop for photos. The best time to visit is during the annual World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Festival, held every second weekend of July, which features live music, catsup-themed food, contests, and merchandise.