About Eartha
An office building in Yarmouth contains its own planet. Behind a three-story wall of glass, a globe more than 41 feet in diameter hangs on a mechanized arm, slowly turning through the atrium while continents large enough to walk beneath sweep overhead.
The globe is named Eartha. Mapping company DeLorme created it during the 1990s at its Maine headquarters, and the finished structure first turned in 1998. Garmin later acquired DeLorme, but Eartha remained in the building. It weighs roughly 5,600 pounds and is mounted at an angle that echoes Earth’s axial tilt. Its two-motor system simulates rotation and revolution, completing a cycle in about 18 minutes.
The scale is about one to one million. That makes one inch on Eartha represent roughly sixteen miles on the real planet. From observation levels inside the atrium, visitors can look across oceans, stare directly at continents, and inspect the globe from dramatically different heights. The effect lands somewhere between geography lesson, kinetic sculpture, and the secret headquarters of somebody planning to take over the world.
Eartha is recognized as the world’s largest rotating and revolving globe. The attraction has also received periodic refurbishment, including replacement of its mapped exterior panels. The official Eartha site says the lobby is open during weekday business hours, but public access can change around holidays or building operations. Check before visiting. Even when the lobby is closed, the giant planet is difficult to hide behind all that glass.