Enterprise, Alabama is the first city to put up a monument to a pest! The statue of a Greek woman holding a boll weevil above her head was erected December 11, 1919. The dedication reads: “In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the Herald of Prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.”

In the early twentieth century the boll weevil decimated the cotton crop in the South and someone in Coffee County decided to try growing peanuts instead — to great success. Southeast Alabama remains a huge producer of peanuts and the nearby city of Dothan even bills itself “The Peanut Capital of the World.” That’s how the boll weevil led to crop diversification and prosperity for the region.

Besides the boll weevil monument (in the middle of the intersection, above) there are various themed boll weevil statues around town, such as a boll weevil wearing glasses in front of an optometrist’s office and this one at the farmers market.

Turns out there’s even a Weird Al song that references the boll weevil monument!

I’m on vacation, so that’s all for today. You can read more in this Smithsonian article.