Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Abandoned Storyland




Traveling west on route 30 past the town of Bedford, Pennsylvania, you'll hear the pied piper calling you. Standing over 18 feet tall and inviting you into a country craft store. But what we found behind this store was more interesting to us. A giant Humpty Dumpty, a large blue whale, an ice cream house. What was going on here?

In the 1950's and 60's before all the giant amusement parks of today, families would gather at storybook parks. Here children could live out all of their favorite fairy tales. Storyland was one such place, and unfortunately met the same fate as most all of the other storybook parks; gone and forgotten.

You can still get a good look at what Storyland was like with a bit creepier feel. There are about a dozen of these characters in the woods behind the quaint country store. Though trampling your way through may earn you a trespassing fine. It's best to pay a visit to the crafty store and get a look on your way out.

3 comments:

kate' said...

this is super creepy BECAUSE...my mom went here when she was like 5 or 6. I was on this website and I asked her if she knew anything about it because we always pass it...(We live in Altoona) We would always pass the pipe smoker..........creepy

Gus said...

Made the mistake of going past the gift show nothing was clearly marked, it looked like a park. When we realized it was private property we were being yelled at by a old drunk guy in his late 60's. It needs to be marked better so people don't go into the old park.

Wendy Pastuch said...

I work for the man who built s few of these attractions with his bare hands. He made the Humpty Dumpty, the Old Shoe and the Ice Cream house. I think his name has been forgotten when it comes to the Storyland figures. But His family is VERY proud of him for all he has accomplished in his 85 years, His name is Ralph Blanset of Stoystown. He is still around and can be seen (often times) hanging out at his store in Stoystown. Its called Blanset Hardware... We offer hometown service for hardware supplies and also offer our little town a few groceries. SO if you are in the area or 101 West Main ST Stoystown, stop in and ask to talk to Ralph himself, he can tell you about anything you would like to know about Stoystown, Rt 30 and Story Land.