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the morrells and Storyland
A Brief history of storyland A Bartlett success story
When the US Army sent Bob and Ruth Morrell to Germany in 1950, the North Conway, NH couple found something they hadn’t expected. Her name was Frau Von Arps and she created for them a marvelous collection of small, intricately designed dolls inspired by the children’s stories with which they grew up.
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As their tour drew to a close, Frau Von Arps suggested that when the Morrells returned home, they might want to build a small village to house their prized collection. But the Morrells had a bigger idea—a vision of bringing the characters and their stories to life in a safe and natural setting where children and their imaginations could run free.
Punctuated by the kaleidoscope of flowers and emerald fields of New Hampshire’s beautiful White Mountains, Story Land was born. It was the summer of 1954 when Humpty Dumpty, the Old Woman in the Shoe, the Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit, and other iconic characters inhabited the site of an old saw mill. The only ride was Freddy the Fire Truck, a real fire engine that took guests on a path through the woods.
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Bob and Ruth were gratified when visiting parents expressed their sincere appreciation for a clean venue in a rural setting, staffed by courteous young people, where families could create precious memories. Years later, Bob once said, "We had no competition; but nobody expected this crazy idea to survive anyway." Each year, they put all their money back into the park, adding new features and improving old ones.
As Story Land grew through the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, the families that visited the park grew as well. Many of the parents and grandparents who visit today first came to Story Land as children themselves, and they love to share the joy of Story Land with their children and grandchildren, returning year after year to enjoy their old favorites and to see what's new.
Bob and Ruth's two children, Stoney and Nancy, had come to love and appreciate the park in which they grew up. It seemed only natural that with the passing of their parents in the 1990s, they would honor their memory and don the mantel of operations. Stoney held the reins from the mid 1980s until his own passing in 2006, when sister Nancy guided the park into a storybook marriage with the Kennywood Entertainment Company family of theme parks in 2007.
SOURCE: Storyland Advertising Literature.
Stoney Morrell, Heritage New Hampshire owner, dies same day attraction closes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BARTLETT, N.H. —
Stoney Morrell, who ran the White Mountain attractions Story Land and Heritage New Hampshire, has died of cancer. He was 50.
Morrell died Sunday, the same day Heritage New Hampshire closed its doors for good. His parents, Ruth and Bob Morrell, opened Story Land in the village of Glen in 1954. The amusement park, which is aimed at younger children and features characters and attractions from nursery rhymes, has drawn tourists from southern New Hampshire and the greater Boston area for half a century. Bob Morrell opened Heritage New Hampshire next door in 1976 to showcase the state's history, but the attraction's attendance had fallen off.
Morrell "stepped into very big footsteps after his father died," said Dick Hamilton, former president of White Mountains Attractions, of which Story Land was a founding member. "He continued to work to make Story Land one of the top-rated parks here in New England." Storyland will continue operating with the management team Morrell put in place, Hamilton said.
Janice Crawford, executive director of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, said Morrell continued to improve on the dream he shared with his parents, adding a new attraction to Story Land every year. He also emphasized traditional childhood themes and provided a safe experience, instead of following the trend of slick sets and scary rides, she said. Morell "built Storyland into a premier, stately attraction, having the courage to dismiss the neon, Hollywood and thriller rides that were in vogue," she said.
Morrell was born two years after his parents opened Storyland. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1978 and went to Wyoming to try ranching for a while, then rejoined the family business in the early 1980s.
After his father died in 1997, he carried on with Bob Morrell's favorite project, the restoration of the Flying Yankee train. The elder Morrell bought the train in 1993 from the Edaville Railroad and sold it to the state for $1. Restoration is continuing at the Hobo Railroad in Lincoln. "Stoney picked up the torch and started running with it," said Paul Giblin, president of the Flying Yankee Restoration Group. "He certainly had a great passion for tourism and thoroughly understood his dad's vision. There is much more to the train than its restoration — they saw it as a way to give people hope and inspire creativity."
Morrell was generous to his hometown, donating money to establish the Bartlett Village Park and buying the fire department its first ladder truck in 2004, said Storyland spokesman Jim Miller. He also mentored many people in the White Mountain tourism industry and served on local and state boards. "He did not look for the spotlight. He was a quiet benefactor," Miller said.
Morrell is survived by his wife, Foley; his son and daughter; and his sister, Nancy. Funeral arrangements were incomplete Monday.
OBITUARY:
Robert S. Morrell, at 78; June 23, 1998
Robert S. Morrell, the founder of Storyland, a tourist attraction in Glen, N.H., populated by Cinderella, Humpty Dumpty, and other fantasy figures, died of cancer Friday in his home in Kearsarge, N.H. He was 78.
Mr. Morrell was born in Manchester, N.H. As a youth he was a ski instructor at the Eastern Slope Ski School in Jackson, N.H., and Mount Cranmore in Conway, N.H. After studying business administration at Bay Path Institute in Springfield, he served in the Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II. In 1944, he sold insurance in Manchester, N.H., and in 1948 he opened an ice cream company in North Conway, N.H., but the Korean War halted that enterprise.
In 1953, while he was stationed in Baumholder, Germany, he met a German doll maker who fashioned her creations after storybook characters and sold them door-to-door. When she told him her idea of a make-believe village based on the characters, Storyland was born. Mr. Morrell returned home and created Story Land the following summer on Route 16 in Glen with his first wife, the fomer Ruth Taber, who died in 1990. The attraction drew 15,343 visitors at 85 cents a head in its first year.
Over the years, the park offered more than characters such as The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Cinderella, and Humpty Dumpty. A miniature train, flying wooden shoes, and a space ride added to its popularity among children. In 1975, the Morrells created an attraction for older visitors. Heritage New Hampshire featured animated displays, movies, and slides portraying 350 years of state history.
The son of a railroad man, Mr. Morrell in 1993 bought the Flying Yankee, the nation's third streamlined passenger train. He eventually sold it to the state of New Hampshire for $1. The nonprofit Flying Yankee Restoration Group Inc. was formed to raise $1 million to restore it and hopes to begin carrying passengers again on July 4, 2000.
Mr. Morrell served on several local boards, including the Mount Washington Valley Habitat for Humanity and the Conway School Board. He served as a citizen ambassador to China in 1994 and to South Africa in 1995 as a delegate for People to People International.
Storyland is now operated by his son, R. Stoning "Stoney" Jr., who said his father's greatest asset was his curiosity. "He was relentless in his pursuit of things unique," his son said, "whether that meant finding something around the corner or something he saw on the other side of the Earth while traveling. He was a hands-on, in- the-ditch kind of boss who loved the excitement of new challenges."
In addition to his son, he leaves his second wife, Miriam Andrews Morrell; a daughter, Nancy Morrell Coan of Stuart, Fla.; three stepdaughters, Carolyn Williams and Sylvia Stephenson of North Andover, and Janet Kibbee of Penacook, N.H.; a brother, Nathan of Watertown, N.Y.; a sister, Marion Morrell Owen of Colebrook, N.H.; and four grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are private. A celebration of his life is being planned
FURTHER READING AT THE MOUNTAIN EAR CHRONICLES:
The Long Road to Happily-Ever-After
July 8, 1977
by Jane Golden of the Mountain Ear Staff
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Conway Daily Sun Article by Tom Eastman - 2024
Link OK as of Dec 2024
A remarkable, detailed view of Storyland as told by New Hampshire Magazine
Link is good as of Nov 2023
Revisiting Storyland, A great collection
of photographs April 2019 by Aimee Tucker Link is ok as of Dec 2024
Personal Recollections
A personal remembrance: In 1958, when I was about nine, my family all went to Storyland for the first time, although we only lived five miles up the street. The fire-truck caught our eye immediately and it was permissible to climb up on to it. My brother, twelve at the time, wanted to sound the siren and horn but they wouldn't work. After investigating the situation a little he announced, "I see the problem, the battery is disconnected". He proceeded to connect the wire terminals and blasted the siren and the horn. It only took a minute or two for Storyland personnel to come running and told us, in a friendly way, that we were no longer allowed near the fire-truck.
This editor's Recollection: My own lasting impression of both Bob and Stoney Morrell was their ability to meet every one they encountered on the same plane. There was never any suggestion, pretense or an "I'm better than you" attitude. In fact, they both had the ability to make each person they spoke with, regardless of that person's station in life, feel like their opinion was both valued and important. Their ability to sincerely listen to other people's opinions and ideas, all the while, imparting very little of themselves unless urged was truly impressive.
Despite their phenomenal ambition, enthusiasm, successes and achievements both personally and financially, anyone meeting them would conclude that they aren't a whole lot different than me. And I think that's just how they wanted it.
