A Whale of a Tale: Mother Goose Land Canton, Ohio

You are probably familiar with the whale as it is used as a background for The Wandering Oddball website. Today, I would like to delve into its origin story. 

On a dull Saturday in March 2022, I was randomly messing around with Google Maps. A pin icon on a map showed an amusement park nearby called Mother Goose Land. When I clicked on it, it showed photos of a park and some unusual things. One of them was a whale where people could walk in the mouth. The park was located in Canton, Ohio. This was thirty minutes away from Kent, where I lived. I drove there because I had nothing better to do that afternoon. 

When I got to the parking lot, there were some remnants of what would have been the front gate entrance while it was still a theme park. There were brick walls and a tower resembling a castle gate. The mural on the building is what I describe as going on a nightmarish drug trip. In Ohio, January to March are the grossest times of the year.

There was a long mural that said Mother Goose Land with creepy paintings of storybook characters. I think the Gingerman was the most terrifying, and it looked like it would probably kill me in my sleep. 

I walked inside Willy. There, I was overwhelmed by the sight of Taco Bell garbage and the scent of cigarettes. In the dog park, there was a statue of a dolphin. I am curious to know if it was part of Mother Goose Land or if it came with the dog park. There were also colored pipes, which I don't know if they were scraps from the park. 

Next to Willy was a dog park named after him. In the park, there was a figure of a dolphin. I don't know if it was a part of the original theme park or if it was put in when the dog park was built. 

When I got home, I decided to do more research on the park. While still called Mother Goose Land, the park is currently called City Field Park. The park opened in 1954, with structures retelling fairy tales and live animals. Willy also used to be a light blue, as shown in many older photos dating back several years ago. During the park's heyday, a fence surrounded the pond, possibly to prevent children from falling in. Based not on the apparent namesake, the park centered around many fairytale stories. Aside from Grimms Fairy Tales, they also had Wizard of Oz character statues. They were sold to a business owner of a family center and placed in the putt-putt golf course. The attractions were mainly walk-in or peek-in houses to see a scene recreated from a fairytale. There is no record of rides once being on the premises. The park ended up closing in the 1980s and was left abandoned. 

There is a dedicated Facebook page where people share photos from their childhood visiting the theme park. One post talks about a flash flood that once happened and a picture of Willy partially submerged. The post went on to joke about Willy being out to sea. A link below to the Facebook page if you are interested in reading.  

Now you know the tale of the Whale.