The giant "Peace Candle of the World" is located in Scappoose, Oregon on what was previously a farm owned by the Scharf family. Darrel Brock purchased the property and built a candle factory, Western Candles Ltd., which was quite successful. As a way of drawing attention to their enterprise, they ran a natural gas line up through the center of an existing 50-foot silo on the property and put over 45,000 pounds of brilliant multi-colored wax on the outside, transforming it into a massive candle for peace. If the winds were just right, fragrances from the wax could be smelled in downtown Scappoose.The official dedication and lighting ceremony took place on the afternoon of May 9, 1971. Oregon Governor Tom McCall and his wife, Audrey, flew into Scappoose on a helicopter, the Scappoose High School Band played “America the Beautiful,” and over 5,000 people looked on as Governor Tom McCall, Scappoose Mayor Forrest Sanders and Darrel Brock lit the world’s largest candle, “The Peace Candle of the World," with the help of a cherry picker and a 60-foot match that had been specially constructed for the event.
The dedication and lighting ceremony brought people from all over the country, including Canada. Free parking was available on the farm and cars lined U.S. Highway 30 for two miles in each direction. A 2:30pm Burlington Northern Railway freight train that normally passed the candle factory was rescheduled.
Ironically, the candle was intended to be "eternal," but when the natural gas bills started to come in, the candle became "terminal." The wax was eventually stripped, the candle painted yellow and then red, and the eternal flame replaced with a neon flame.
Instructions for logging waymark: A photograph is required of you (or your GPS receiver, if you are waymarking solo) and the Peace Candle of the World.