06/07/2026
The legendary Blue Whale of Catoosa in Catoosa Oklahoma is a famous road side attraction built by Hugh Davis as a gift to his wife back in the 1970s. He also had a “ark” attraction on site with a small zoo. He built these tables and benches out of concrete as well for people to stop and sit and perhaps have a picnic under the trees next to the whale and pond. It was all very roadside and Americana. Had a little dirt on it for character and is beloved by people who love Route 66. On my first trip on the road it was based on stopping here. I’ve always seen pictures of it and wanted to see it myself. Aside from the whale there was a tiny gift shop and some bathrooms. The ark zoo attraction had been closed for many years. The ark still standing on the side of the gravel parking lot. Nothing about this attraction was polished or new. It had character as I said. I loved the whale benches and seats made out of concrete and the heart stools. This is what road side America and two lanes is all about. Awhile ago the city of Catoosa took over ownership. My last trip there was in January of 2025. I stopped by and spent a lot of time taking photos of the old benches and picnic area as well as some of the ark and old zoo remnants. Recently I saw a video of someone making a stop there and all the “improvements” the city of Catoosa has done. This includes a massive visitors center all polished and new. They tore out all the old trees. Tore down the old gift shop and bathrooms (which were not great) tore down the old ark and the biggest travesty of all is they took out the concrete whale seats and benches. The visitors center dwarfs the whale itself. It’s sad. And frankly not unnecessary. It has become polished Ike Disneyland and lost a lot of its luster it seems. No character. It could have been done without destroying some of what made this classic roadside stop what it was. But they cleared the land and built a fancy visitors center. As the years go by the route has lost many icons. I’m happy this one was saved so to speak but believe it was handled very poorly by folks in charge who wanted to sell T-shirts. I was told recently that some of the stools etc were placed in storage but need work to fix them and it’s expensive. All I could think was if you toned down the new stuff you could have used the money to save the old stuff. Saving old stuff is way cooler than new stuff. But alias usually those in charge are not usually the ones with the best ideas. I’m happy on my last trip I focused some photos on the now gone benches and tables. Folks now though I’m sure will be able to see an example of them in displayed in the museum in the new visitors centers I’m sure, as a taste of what once was. The last photo is a picture I found online of what it is now.
