In New Hampshire, Bob and Ruth Morrell turned more than 25 German storybook dolls into a village in 1954; Story Land now has more than 50 attractions

Story Land in Glen, New Hampshire, grew from a collection of handmade storybook dolls into a theme park for young families. Its founders, Bob and Ruth Morrell, opened the park in late 1954 after dollmaker Frau Edith Von Arps suggested building a village around the figures. The Morrells expanded her idea to include storybook characters, rides and play areas. Story Land’s official history recounts how the idea developed. The park opened with a single ride, a fire engine that Bob drove with children as passengers. Over the decades, it added attractions such as Cinderella’s Pumpkin Coach and Castle in 1957 and continued expanding. Story Land now advertises more than 50 attractions, including rides, shows and play areas.A knock at the doorBob Morrell had been in the 10th Mountain Division of ski soldiers in the Second World War and had been recalled to service during the Korean Conflict. That took the pair to Germany, when an elderly woman named Frau Edith Von Arps showed up at their home. She was travelling from home to house selling dolls she had handcrafted, one for each classic children’s fairy tale.The Morrells became friends with Von Arps, who sold them more than 25 dolls before they returned to New Hampshire. She suggested that they build a small village around the dolls. The Morrells expanded the idea beyond a display, planning rides and play spaces where storybook creatures could live and characters could come to life.This was not their first rodeo in business. They owned the Eastern Slope Ice Cream Company in North Conway, the Concord Monitor reported. The park began with around $5,000, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. They purchased a piece of land in Glen that the previous owner said wouldn’t even make a respectable pasture.Early years of riskThe park opened in late 1954, a year before Disneyland came up and transformed people’s expectations of amusement parks. According to the Conway Daily Sun, it was once called Story Town and had only one ride, a fire engine Bob drove with youngsters as passengers. Then came a few successful seasons, aided by the arrival of Cinderella’s Pumpkin Coach and Castle in 1957. Then the national economy stalled, and the fledgling park struggled. The local lenders didn’t want the mortgage on the home of the three bears, and the family got by working hard and giving money back into the park year after year. That habit paid off in the late 1960s. Bob bought an old German carousel in 1967 that still turns today, a train and a fleet of boats that became the Swan Boats. The Morrells had room to dream bigger, and visitors began to perceive the park as a location they wanted to return to.A park that kept growingThe 1970s were a busy decade. New additions included a chapel, a safari ride, a Moroccan bazaar, the first maze, a Dutch village with a shoe ride and a coaster that later became the Polar Coaster. The 1980s brought a pirate ship, a tea cup ride and a trip to the moon. The park’s latest new ride was a compact wooden coaster with a 40-foot drop, which opened in 2014. Its more recent major addition was Moo Lagoon, a water play area that debuted in 2024.The park continued as a family business through all this. Ruth handled the gift shop, Bob ran around making sure everyone was having fun, and their daughter Nancy played Mistress Mary in her garden as a child. Their son Stoney continued the work until he died in 2006, and the Morrell family ran the park until 2007, the Concord Monitor reported. Story Land continues to combine storybook settings with rides, shows and play areas for young visitors. The park’s official media information lists more than 50 attractions and describes its history of entertaining generations of families since opening in 1954.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.