There’s Nothing Else In The World Like This Enormous Collection In Nebraska

Boys Town in Omaha is one of Nebraska's most iconic historic locations. Founded in 1917 by Father Edward Flanagan as a facility to care for troubled boys, Boys Town was immortalized in a 1938 movie. It has grown from a single group home for troubled boys into a large residential care facility offering at-risk boys and girls world-class care.

While you may have known all of these things about Boys Town, you may not realize that it houses a unique world record-holding object.

The World's Largest Ball of Stamps is located here, in the Leon Myers Stamp Center inside the Boys Town Visitors Center.

The huge collection consists of 4,655,000 stamps from all over the world. It weighs in at a whopping 600 pounds and measures 32 inches in diameter.

The ball was constructed by the Boys Town Stamp Collecting Club starting in 1953. There are three conflicting stories regarding the ball's core. Some say that at the center is a wad of balled-up stamps; others say that the ball was built around a pencil stub. But the most popular theory is that a golf ball sits at the very center of the orb.

No matter what actually sits under those millions of stamps, the finished product is a real marvel. The outer layer of the ball is a shiny collection of canceled stamps that you could spend hours examining. A sunburst mural, also made of stamps, adorns the wall behind it.

The whole Leon Myers Stamp Center is full of fascinating stamp exhibits. See stamps from all over the world and learn more about the history of the stamp and the classic hobby of stamp collecting.

There's even a "penny bin" of canceled stamps for visitors to dig through. Find a new favorite to take home and start or continue your very own collection.

This video gives a short explanation of how the World's Largest Ball of Stamps was started and its significance to Boys Town.

You can find the Leon Myers Stamp Center inside the Boys Town Visitors Center on Flanagan Blvd in Boys Town. Learn more about the massive ball of stamps right here.

Interested in learning more about Boys Town? Check out this article from the archives.