Blue Whale of Catoosa

Although Davis had his wife in mind when he built “Blue,” he was also considering the neighborhood children. Prior to building the whale, Davis had built two petting zoos, one filled with cats and the other, known as the “Ark,” filled with reptiles. After noticing children swimming in a pond near their property on Route 66, Davis decided to build the whale as a gift to his wife, and as a swim dock for children looking to dive and slide into the old pond.

The Davis’s maintained the whale through the 1980s and even had a small concession stand at the pond. However, after Hugh Davis passed away, the whale began to fall into disrepair and was not restored until 1988, when his son Blaine took up the project. Fixing damage from vandals and repairing the decaying cement, Blaine Davis restored the happy whale, and it has now smiled at visitors for over 40 years.

The whale is located east of downtown Catoosa on Route 66.

Content originally provided by Atlas Obscura.