STORYLAND, NEAR POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA, 1956
Breeze-blown pennants mark the entrance of a children’s nursery rhyme theme park. Be careful the bridge that you must cross is dangerous. A little one could easily fall through the rails right into the make-believe mote. Like Disneyland, the granddaddy of all theme parks, guests entered Storyland though a fairy tale castle.
A green garden hose snakes across front lawn of a most charming mismatched collection of giant, side-by-side gingerbread houses. I’d sure love to have a chat with the creative design genius that came up with that ever so inspired paint scheme. I want to know who decided to pair a very velveeta-like shade of orangey-yellow with navy blue on every third row of shingles together with Chinese red trimmed windows. And how about the little pink house in the middle with a perfectly matched pink roof? I know!
By today’s children’s story standards, Rub-a-dub-dub Three Men in a Tub, The Old Lady That Lived in a Shoe, Jack and the Beanstock, Humpty Dumpty and the other classics that were represented here, if you really think about them, seem just plain weird.
I’m in Florida this week and happened to drive by the very location on Federal Hwy where Storyland stood between the mid-fifties and mid-sixties. It’s gone without a trace for sure. Few classic nursery rhyme theme parks still stand today. I have had the privilege of visiting two of them that do, The Enchanted Forrest in Old Forge, New York and Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, California. Do you know of any others? Certainly there can’t be just two left.
Here’s to Storyland, weird nursery rhymes and you!
Correction, Storyland must have been the 2nd park they owned, purchasing it from the original owners.
I happened to be doing family ancestry and goggled the park’s name. My grandfather and his brother (Dean and John L Sullivan) owned this park in the 1950′s. I have no idea how the colors evolved. Out of curiosity, I will have to ask my mother. Pretty interesting.
They owned two different amusement parks in the same area at slightly different times. One had a roller coaster, however big/small, that my mother used to ride continuously. And I specifically recall everyone in the family always speaking of monkeys which were at one of the parks. They would somehow get out and my grandfather would find them on the other side of I95 “hitchhiking” he said. Good times.
Wow, does this bring back memories! Storyland was my FAVORITE place to go when I was small! I still have pictures my mom took of me there. I remember leaving one day only to meet my best friend and her family coming in the gate; we turned around and went right back in again! I have another memory of going up the “hill” to the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe with my dad one day just as it started to pour down rain. That hill seemed a mile high and straight up! When I was a teenager I asked Dad about it and he said, “Oh, it was about ten feet high.” So much for childish perceptions, but many, many, many happy days! Thanks for the site!
I have a picture of my brother, sister and I at Storyland in Pompano Beach. I don’t remember that much on a personal level.
I would love to see more pics
Hi. My parents took my older sisters and I to STORYLAND in CAPE COD when I was a toddler. I just had our old home movies converted to a DVD and there it was! AMAZING.
I remember this one in Pompano Beach, FL although I had no idea what it was called until just today!!! We had a boat and you had to ride past it on the waterway to get to the intracoastal from where we lived. I was pretty young when we used to go past it, but I do remember the Old Lady Who Lived in the Shoe vividly…I was about 3 or 4. Now there are just condos where this part of Americana used to be. Miss our innocence….
Wow! A trip down memory lane! As a kid, I used to travel from Ohio down to Pompano Beach Florida each summer for a two week visit to my grandparents. I was probably 8 years of age when they first took me to StoryLand, and I have often wondered if it was still in existence. Finding your site here, Mr. Phoenix, and that wonderful photo of the entry, brought back some incredible memories for me. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this.
Sincerely,
Brother Mark
Saint Francis Friary
Easton, PA
This park popped into my mind for some reason, so I decided to see if anyone else remembered it and googled it. Thank you for this webpage. Every time I pass that area I think of this park. We loved it as kids in the early 60′s.
My family used to go to the Florida Storyland in the mid-1950s, as we lived right up the road. I still have the personalized “newspaper” they would print for you, The Storyland Star, with a headline that said (Your name) Visits Storyland, Florida. It was very cool for us kids… Today’s kids have their video games instead, I guess.
This week’s photo reminded me of my childhood days in Fresno at the Rotary’s Storyland Park. It is still there to this day so whenever you’re in Fresno, pop on over. Here’s a link to some photos. Enjoy, and enjoy Florida!
http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/fres.html
We used to go to Storybook Land on the Black Horse Pike in New Jersey. I haven’t thought about it in a million years, but when I got the Slide of the Week I looked on the internet and it’s still there. Of course it didn’t have any rides then, like it does now.
It resembled the park John Waters used in “Cry Baby.”
I love the photo today! The last time I was by Storybook Forest in Western PA, it was still there, but closed. The owner lives on-site and maintains all of the buildings, and he let me walk the grounds. I used to go there as a child.
A children’s playland kind of place here in the SF bay area called Happy Hollow (http://www.happyhollowparkandzoo.org/) recently began plans to upgrade a lot of the park. Up to the present, it was one of the last places of its kind that still had a lot of fun stuff from the 60s for kids to ride on and play with. But since they’re doing the upgrade, they recently had an auction to sell many of the things at the park, from signs to even a full, complete carousel. The auction also included some things from Frontier Village, another south bay area park that closed around 1980
(http://www.frontiervillage.net/).
I went to the auction and took some photos. Our pictures also show one of the highlights of the auction, when an ardent Frontier Village fan won the auction for his dream ride-car.
http://www.goofspot.com/images/hh-auction.htm
Here’s an SJ Mercury article about the Frontier Village fan. Nice story.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9520656?source=rss
I always enjoy your Slides, but what makes them even more enjoyable, are the detailed desciptions you offer.
I believe there is still an “Enchanted Forest” in Oregon, just south of Salem on I-5. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited it with my family. Back in the 80s I think. It was still there a couple of years ago, when I found myself in the area.
Thanks for the Fun!
There’s a GREAT one in Rapid City, South Dakota!
It’s not THAT far from Denver ( 6 hours? )
Maybe we can tack on a day or two to your stay and get you up there.
There is a TON of cool stuff on the highway between Rapid City and Mt. Rushmore – It’s like “Weird Tourism” paradise – with a Reptile Farm, a Sea World, a big giant walk-thru Maze – one of those great old Mystery Gravity Houses where things seem to roll uphill, a Bear Country Safari Land, and the Flintstones Bedrock City is also there – where you can peek into Betty and Barney’s bedroom window and get into all sorts of mischief!
It was all a reaction to the tourism flocking to Mt. Rushmore – and the only nearby city is Rapid City – so that highway became one long tourist trap way back when – and has stayed that way.
In Rapid City – there’s the Storybook park AND there are some GREAT old 1950s plaster dinosaurs up on a hill overlooking downtown… big ones that you can climb and sit on as I recall – and definitely VINTAGe. But the Storybook Park – I forget the real name – is FABULOUS… with well-done displays from ALL the nursery rhymes. You can go into the Shoe that the old woman lived in, hang out with Bo Peep and the sheep, and all sorts of stuff..
http://theimaginaryworld.com/cfl.html
has pictures of Oakland Fairyland, still open. But you MUST be
accompanied by a child!
It was designed by an alumnus of my art school, the California
College of Arts and Crafts – formerly CCAC, now just CCA – I think
the “C” word scares them these days.
There is a great place called the Enchanted Forest outside Baltimore
called the Enchanted Forest. It fell into disrepair for a long time
but there is a restoration effort now.
http://www.opacity.us/site41_the_enchanted_forest.htm#gallery70
MD/DC had many such attractions over the years. Sadly, most are
completely gone.
I wanted to let you know, as per your request in the slide of the week, that there is indeed another nursery rhyme themed park – and it’s even RIGHT HERE IN CALIFORNIA! Up in Stockton there’s a quaint little place called Pixie Woods that I used to go to when I visited my aunt and uncle up there. If you ever have a chance to see the Stockton episode of “California Gold with Huell Howser,” do it; Huell is at his most stereotypical aw-shucks self in the Haggin Museum (where he is talking, incidentally, to my uncle Tod Ruhstaller who is the director of the museum) and he nearly orgasms with glee when he rides the train around the “lake” at Pixie Woods. But if you can’t come across the episode, here’s the Pixie Woods segment from it on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp9WxhFU08c) so that you can get a taste from home.
I loved the slide of the week of Storyland – sad that it is gone. You ask in the narrative if there are other “Fairytale towns” left. A resounding yes! The enchanted Forest is just south of Salem Oregon, and not only is it still there, but it is still going strong! It is a wonderful place, built into a forested hillside. I have been going there for years, and now I take my children at least once a year. I heartily recommend it. I have attached a link to their website. I enjoy your work very much (I have a few of your books) and look forward to you slide of the week.
There is another storybook-type theme park left….but it’s not in America! It’s called De Efteling, and it’s in The Netherlands, about 45 minutes south of Amsterdam (http://www.efteling.com/home.aspx?LanguageId=2). I had the privilege of visiting a few weeks ago, even. It was one of the two places that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland — it has a central plaza, a “Rivers of America”, a “Fantasyland” of sorts (which is simply beautiful with all of the grown-in vegetation from the last 55 years), and is definitely based upon classic children’s fairy tales.
Hope this helps!
There is still a park outside Salem, Oregon called Enchanted Forest. I first went there in the late 70′s with my whole family and we still have some pictures in a box somewhere, but no slides. You’d love my “Nanu Nanu” shirt as a young fan of Mork ‘n’ Mindy.
They have more coasters and things today, but a lot of the original Storybook Lane attractions still abound- Humpty Dumpty, Old Woman in a Shoe, Crooked Man’s Crooked House, etc. Check out the website at http://www.enchantedforest.com and be sure to stop in next time you make it to central Oregon!
There exists a small Storyland in Fresno, at Roeding Park.
http://www.storylandplayland.com/default.asp
You can read about it at the above link.
Roeding Park is a park jewel in a not-so-great area of Fresno.
Don’t despair, I know of two other nursery rhyme theme parks that are
still operating.
Enchanted Forest, Salem, OR
http://enchantedforest.com/enchanted_forest.html
Storyland, Fresno, CA
http://www.storylandplayland.com/
I have visited both within the past couple years and they are great!
Keep up the good work!
Awesome website!
My husband Peter and I were married at the Storyland in Fresno, CA. You need to buy keys to hear the stories throughout the park and we gave out golden keys as gifts to attendees. We also had free train rides at the wedding! One of the highlights was that two kids fell into the wishing well (it wouldn’t be funny if they were hurt but they were not so laugh away!)
Charles, I Can’t BELIEVE you have never heard of Fairyland Caverns in Chattanooga, Tennessee!
I have pilgrimaged there alone, and then dragged nonbelievers back years later. See the thousands of feet of various scenes of blacklit dwarf sculptures doing myriad oddities such as bowling with Rumplestiltskin while boozing up on moonshine! Enter the cavernous, endless room that seems to be the size of a baseball field, filled with scenes of overlapped tales of Pussies in the Well and Jack Be Nimble, leaping over a fake candle with the aid of a rod up his nighsthirt! Try to explain the mystery of Humpty Dumpty sitting wistfully by a pond while kewpie dolls sleep all around him.
I have been obsessed with this place since before Jimmy Carter was president. I have a fantastic photo collection of every last detail. YOU MUST GO. And get yourself a “See Rock City” birdhouse in the giftshop. Much to my dismay, there is nothing representing the Fairlyand Caverns whatsoever in the giftshop except a postcard or two. It is like they don’t want you to ever be able to relive it through tangible memories, not one magnet or spoon or thimble or nuthin’. You just have to go back. And bring the next generation of puzzled tourists.
Go, my friend.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2078
Love and Lil’ Smokies
Laura
Charles, I Can’t BELIEVE you have never heard of Fairyland Caverns in Chattanooga, Tennessee!
I have pilgrimaged there alone, and then dragged nonbelievers back years later. See the thousands of feet of various scenes of blacklit dwarf sculptures doing myriad oddities such as bowling with Rumplestiltskin while boozing up on moonshine! Enter the cavernous, endless room that seems to be the size of a baseball field, filled with scenes of overlapped tales of Pussies in the Well and Jack Be Nimble, leaping over a fake candle with the aid of a rod up his nighsthirt! Try to explain the mystery of Humpty Dumpty sitting wistfully by a pond while kewpie dolls sleep all around him.
I have been obsessed with this place since before Jimmy Carter was president. I have a fantastic photo collection of every last detail. YOU MUST GO. And get yourself a “See Rock City” birdhouse in the giftshop. Much to my dismay, there is nothing reperesenting the Fairlyand Caverns whatsoever in the giftshop except a postcard or two. It is like they don’t want you to ever be able to relive it through tangible memories, not one magnet or spoon or thimble or nuthin’. You just have to go back. And bring the next generation of puzzled tourists.
Go, my friend.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2078
Love and Lil’ Smokies
Laura
Fairytale town in William Land Park in Sacramento, CA. I made many trips growing up and they have the coolest crooked sidewalk
Charles…
Just when you thought all of the little storylands were going extinct… here’s one just for YOU! Clare and I left NYC around ’95 and moved to the NJ shore, just south of Atlantic City. Slightly inland, Storybook Land was thriving then on the Black Horse Pike, and it still thrives today. You just can’t kill Mother Goose. http://www.storybookland.com/index.html
Warmest,
Lou and Clare Brooks
I grew up in Rhode Island and one year my parents took us on a vacation to Storyland in New Hampshire. We loved it and the best news is it’s still there! My brother has taken my nephew a couple of times and in the photos anyway it seems to look very much the same.
oops! The name is “Storyland” Not Storybook Land” in Roeding Park, in Fresno Ca. Just in case someone might be interested??
Love the white & blue house with the crooked windows!
“Storybook Land” in Fresno, Ca. is in Roeding Park. I went there as a child growing up in the 70′s, many times. I took my children many times as well. It’s still there and will look forward to taking my grandchildren there someday. Hope it will be around for many more years to come!
Yes there are many that still exist. A directory of them can be found at http://theimaginaryworld.com/PARKS1.html
As a kid visiting grandma I spent many an hour at Storybook land in Fresno California. Who would expect to find anything like that in Fresno?
Hey Charles,
Thanks for another fun slide! Speaking of “Storybook” parks, here’s one I always wanted to visit as a kid (and still do!) in Oregon: http://www.enchantedforest.com
Regards,
David
Fresno has the Rotary Storyland Playland right next to the Fresno zoo. The community has taken great lengths to restore the rides and keep it in operation since the 1950′s in the San Joaquin Valley.
Don’t leave out this one- the sweetest, oddest place in all of Oregon:
http://www.enchantedforest.com/enchanted_forest.html
There’s a place in Concord, CA that we were all taken to as kids (if you lived in the central valley) called Pixieland. It still stands, though the website isn’t very telling. In the 80s and 90s much of what was the storybook area was renamed Smurf Village, though I hear it’s gone back to being much more of a pixieland/storybook park.
oops- I meant sadian delight, not the peter brooks play. Though I’m sure the haunted house WAS staffed with high school and college thespians.
I love the storybook theme parks! My parents used to take us to Santa Land in Cherokee N.C. (santaslandnc.com). I’m not sure how much of the original is still there, but it may be worth a look.
Sheri
The Enchanted Forest in Salem, Or. is still standing and if my childhood memories are at all reliable it’s definitely worth the trip. My sister and I would always be filled with a blend of terror and excitement days before a visit to the theme park, wondering if we would be brave enough to visit the indian caves (still so named!) where children would invariably get lost or stuck in small spaces and the haunted house, staffed by teen-agers possessing a marat-sade like delight in the tears and screams of young children. Fabulous!
http://www.enchantedforest.com
Charles – Fairytale Town in William Land Park, Sacramento, still exists! It was built in 1959. As a child in the 70s, my favorite thing in the park was the “Old Lady’s Shoe”, which is a giant slide!
As soon as I saw this slide I was transported to Storybook Gardens in the Wisconsin Dells of my youth. It was near the shores of Lake Delton, which just this week breached its dam and has, for the time being, eliminated the water ski portion of Tommy Bartlett’s Water Show (but, the show will go on…just a dehydrated version). I hope that the Jack Be Nimble and Jack and the Beanstalk displays remain as always and above water.
When I was a child, we went to Fairytale Town in William Land Park, Sacramento. It’s still there, and my kids love it!
Childrens fable and fantasy is alive and well in Rapid City, South Dakota.
http://www.storybookisland.com/
Story Land in New Hampshire
Story Book Forest in Pennsylvania
I remember Storybook Forest in western Pennsylvania from when I was a kid. Evidently still there, although now part of a larger amusement park.
http://www.pennsylvania-mountains-of-attractions.com/storybook-forest.html