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Davenport, Iowa  Mother Goose entrance to Fejervary Park picture is located at umvphotoarchive.org
If you have any pictures, slides, film or stories from Fejervary Park, Monkey Island, the Western Trail or Mother Goose Land from the 1950s through the 1970s, please click here to email me!
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I loved Mother Goose. You could not wait to go through her because you knew that there was magic waiting for you on the other side. - Wendy Edwards
Circa 1960 color photo of Mother Goose Land - Special thanks to Bill Young, Fejervary groundskeeper extrodinaire for over three decades. Notice in the distance the children riding the burros on The Western Trail around the upper rim of Mother Goose Land.
Color Circa 1960 picture of Fejervary Park's Mother Goose entrance special thanks to Bill Young. Notice the cowboy hat ready to ride the Western Trail, the Charlie Brown shirt and the elbow patch!
CHILDREN'S ZOO - Located in Fejervary Park the Children's Zoo is open on week-ends during May, daily from 1 p.m. until dark after the first week in June, and on week-ends after Labor Day through September. Special openings can be arranged for groups of 50 persons or more. A Western Trail featuring Ghost Town buildings, burro trail ride, gold panning, mine, volcano, etc. adds to the Mother Goose features of the Zoo.
 Special thanks to Wendy Edwards July 1965 |  Special thanks to Wendy Edwards July 1965 |
 One of the many peacocks who roamed |  London Bridge |
Kenny Westerman, my Dad loved Carol and I so much and made our childhoods very happy and rich. He was a good Daddy and a good Uncle. He took all of these photos.
My Dad took my cousin and I to Mother Goose Land and to Disney Movies as much as he could which was almost every weekend or at least twice a month. They are very tender memories for me. We loved it!!! It was a wonderful place and we were so lucky to have experienced it.
Diane Westerman - and my cousin with the curly blondish hair is Carol Stancil.
Carol Stancil and Diane Westerman at the Trading Post
Diane and Carol making their stand in the Western Town
Diane and Carol Panning for Gold
Diane and Carol riding the donkeys on the Western Trail
Diane and Carol in the old Covered Wagon
Carol and Diane in front of the Three Little Pigs enclosure.
Diane Westerman on the Western Trail
Special thanks to Diane Westerman for sharing the above scans of these incredible pictures from Mother Goose Land at Fejervary Park, Davenport, Iowa.
Mother Goose Land 1959 The Little Mouse
Special thanks to George Nickolas
Mother Goose Land Goosey Goosey 1959
Special thanks to George Nickolas
Merry Mills at Mother Goose Land 1959
Special thanks to George Nickolas
Three Pigs at Mother Goose Land 1959
Special thanks to George Nickolas
Fejervary Zoo's famous Monkey Island. Special thanks to Bill Young.
I have one GREAT Monkey Island story for you!
Back in 1976, when I was 17 working with other 16 and 17 year olds as summer seasonal zoo help (giving donkey rides, applying band-aids, keeping kids out of the animal pens, etc.) I happened to be the one sitting in the Goose taking ticket money (.35 cents) when a woman ran in and yelled that a monkey was out!! I called for help at the entrance and about 4 of us girls in shorts and t-shirts and sandals, went out to face down the monkey and protect the public! The park was packed that day and dozens of people were around Monkey Island.
On the 3 foot high wall, sat a shivering, wet, scared, hurt, half-electrocuted monkey (he had to swim through the moat, climb the wall, and get over the electric wire that surrounded the enclosure after he had fought with the dominant male Rhesus monkey). We girls got the people away as fast and calmly as we could. The police had been called and arrived in good time, but here comes the good part! The police car pulled up with 2 officers inside. I explained the situation and the officer in the passenger seat pulled out his gun, muttered something about how dangerous they were after I showed him how big monkey teeth were, rolled up his window, and they drove away!!! - I AM NOT EXAGGERATING! - I could NOT believe it! They left a bunch of girls there to deal with the problem! It still flabberghasts me! - The monkey ended up jumping off the wall, running through the park, right under the swings! and disappeared into the trees! Kids were yelling and trying to follow the cute monkey and parents were screaming about wild monkeys on the loose!
Mind you, all this happened in about 10-15 minutes! The zookeepers, park bosses, etc, had not had time to even get there yet! After they all arrived a "monkey hunt" began, but he was nowhere to be found! The crew had stayed out all night and early in the morning, he was found in the empty swimming pool! and caught by 2 of the zookeepers. The monkey ran right under and between the keeper's legs and was caught in a net. He was kept separate, but in good health after that. The monkey, too! ;)
I have dozens of stories of the zoo, not all quite so dramatic and what a great time we had! It shaped our lives. One co-worker went on to be a Love For Animals halfway house in MN. Another went on to be a prominent marine biologist, and I stayed to be a 2 time zookeeper! I have also adopted some of the zoo animals that I raised and have some key memorabelia. Wouldn't trade any of it for the world!
- Kelly Dyer seasonal worker at the zoo in 1976-77
and head zookeeper in 2000 and again in 2007
Show Time Pal from Davenport Junior Theater was a regular attraction at Fejervary. Leone Bredbeck played Show Time Pal, a clown who performed plays in front of children audiences. Special thanks to Bill Young for this terrific color picture of the Show Wagon. Note the drama mask on the side of the wagon. Show Time Pal would arrive on the scene and perform plays in which children in the audience would participate. This would encourage and expose children to acting and some would join Junior Theater. Show Time Pal not only set up at Fejervary but would arrive on the scene in neighborhood streets of Davenport, Iowa as well.
The House That Jack Built provides an excellent climbing challenge for youngesters visiting Davenport's Children's Zoo. Looks as though this young man conquered the situation with ease, as he emerges from the second-story window.
Davenport's Children's Zoo was financed entirely from increased revenues outside of taxation. The original cost was $35,000, with the western trail amounting to an additional $10,000. Parking and picnic facilities have also been expanded since 1954.
The admission fee of 15 cents per person has remained the same since the Zoo's opening eight years ago. All children under two years of age are admitted free. Annual gross income has amounted to between $12,428 and $18,056, and operating expenses have ranged between $16,839 and $19,212.
Among services provided by the Zoo are picnic tables, first aid facilities, ample benches for exhausted parents and a concession area. A particularly worthwhile feature is a public address system, which is used for carrying music and announcements to the crowd. Zoo officials feel that the grounds surfacing, which was planned especially for quick drainage, is one of their most valuable investments. They are able to operate immediately after rains, and can always maintain a neat-looking area.
Animals, both ordinary and unusual, are one of the main attractions at Fejervary Park. Above, visitors gather for a closer examination of the parading guanaco, a member of the llama family. On a nice summer afternoon, attendance at the Children's Zoo often exceeds 2,000. Here visitors congregate around a replica of famed London Bridge, near the Zoo's entrance. Park Maintenance December 1961.
1966 - William Young, Fejervary Park Manager with an animal called an Audad, a type of Mountain Goat.
Bill Young's daughter's Linda & Gay helping to bring in the baby goats for the "Billy Goats Gruff" pen in Mother Goose Land. Notice the baby fox peeking out of the corner of the cage behind them.
Bill Young's son Rick with Izzy the Lizard! Rick Young with Cocoa the Marmaset monkey in Mother Goose Land
Special thanks to Bill Young and his family for the behind the scenes vintage pictures of Fejervary Park Zoo and Mother Goose Land!
Hand feeding the baby skunk at Fejervary Zoo!
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 Note Mother Goose Land on the right hand side. Compare the buildings with the color picture of MGL near the top of this page.
This western village was built along the top of the bowl of Fejervary's children's zoo. Everything was kids size. "We've built dozens of western buildings and even made a mountain with a smoking volcano. This is the only kid's size western trail in the world; I know there is nothing like it anywhere," Emit Plambeck, Davenport superintendent of parks told The Quad City Times on 5/4/59. The Times gave a great description of the park; Lost Canyon Mine will be a super-thrill for the kids. At the entrance, water splashes into a sluice box full of sand. Buried in the sand will be gold painted stones as replicas of the real thing. Kids will stand up to the box and actually pan for "gold."
"No one will go home unless they strike it rich" laughed Plambeck. The mine itself is long and semi-dark. A waterfall is one of the mine features. For the opening, there will be a dozen burros for young buckeroos to ride on the Western Trail. Perhaps more will be purchased later. The rides will be free on a first-come, first-served basis. Because the Western Trail is part of the Children's Zoo proper, one admission price goes for all. "We're still charging 15 cents per person; children under two will be free," said Plambeck. An old-style western sidewalk of wood fronts the Western Trail. Everything is old. All buildings were made of material form old wrecked barns or houses; all have wood shingle roofs. Western lore, like deer horns, lanterns, equipment for the blacksmith shop, etc., have been donated by Quad-City residents. Park workers have built many things for the kids to climb upon. They can shoot out the gun ports of Fort Apache (reached by climbing a ladder) and scamper down the rock chimney of Indian Joe's dugout house. Many other buildings can be entered, like the school house and the assay office. The little old general store even has packages on the shelves and a sack of barley on the floor.
Donkey Rides on The Western Trail 1959 Special thanks to George Nickolas
The Hanging Tree on The Western Trail 1959 Special thanks to George Nickolas
Buffalo Bell(?) School and The Jail House on The Western Trail 1959 Special thanks to George Nickolas
Boot Hill on The Western Trail 1959 Special thanks to George Nickolas
The Western Trail remnants 1982 Special thanks to George Nickolas
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09/01/2008 ... Presenting still shots from Rick Gibson's 8mm film of Fejervary
Hi, I have some footage shot with an 8mm camera. The years as close as I can guess from 1963 and then 1965. Does anyone have more film footage of Fejervary? I'm also looking for a postcard with Mother Goose on it.
I visited Fejervary Park 3 weeks ago and am saddened that all the animals will be relocated. Thanks so much on your efforts on this web page the info on it is PRICELESS.
Thanks, Rick Gibson
Mother Goose herself at the entrance to Fejervary | The quintessential photo op at Fejervary - Wish Upon A Star |  London Bridge view to the left |
 London Bridge view to the right |
 Sign section of The Cow Jumped Over The Moon |  Lighter view of the sign of The Cow Jumped Over The Moon. Notice the children riding the burro ride on the upper bowl in the far distance. |
 Lower shed section of The Cow Jumped Over The Moon |
 Signage for The Cow Jumped Over The Moon |
 Bison |
 Elk |
 The House That Jack Built sign |
 The House That Jack Built |
 The House That Jack Built |
 The House That Jack Built |
 Goosey Gander |
 Goosey Gander |
 Goosey Gander |
 Monkey Island. Monkey standing in water gathers peanuts or perhaps bread thrown from visitors into the moat which surrounded the island and stuffs it in his mouth.
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 Three monkeys, two on the point and one in the background anticipate peanuts thrown by Fejervary visitors.
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 Monkey gathering food and eyeing two more items in the water trying to decide whether or not it is worth it to get soaking wet going after them. |
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 Signage for The Three Little Pigs |
 Straw House |
 Wooden House |
 Brick House |
 Kiddie Ride at Fejervary |
 Kiddie Ride at Fejervary |
 Elephant Slide at Fejervary
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 Elephant Slide at Fejervary |
 Covered Wagon on The Western Trail |
 Covered Wagon on The Western Trail |
If you have any pictures, slides, film or stories from Fejervary Park, Monkey Island, the Western Trail or Mother Goose Land from the 1950s through the 1970s, please email me!
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Fejervary Zoo Circa 1982 |  |
Peacocks
Bobcat
Ducks
More ducks!
Assisting birth to Buffalo
Deer
Donkey
The new Monkey Island in the early 1980's. Soon to be Cougar Island.
Fejervary prototype early 1980s
Mother Goose playground remnants
The last remaining remnants of the original Fejervary Zoo animal enclosures
Painting the groundskeeper's quarters.
Peacocks
New plans for Fejervary 1982
Transportation to Fejervary, year unknown. Probably early 1980's.
This picture is an Arctic Fox, I believe. The zoo acquired 2 of them in 1976, and they were beautiful creatures. The pic of Arctic Fox is of the male. The female was even gorgeous-er! She was pure white and had orange-gold eyes! Her name was Amber because of those stunning eyes. I helped raise and tame her as a kit, but the male was very scared and untameable. They were "teen-age" sub-adults when they arrived at the zoo that summer.
- Kelly Dyer, seasonal worker at the zoo in 1976-77
and head zookeeper in 2000 and again in 2007
Deer
Buffalo
Ferret with babies
Baby Monkey - offspring of the original 1927 group
George Nickolas presents; Historic Postcards of Fejervary Park from the early 1900's 
Fejervary 1908
Fejervary 1913 colorized picture from Davenport Library Collections
Fejervary Bear Pit 1910
Fejervary Park Elk 1912
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 Former Davenport Alderman George Nickolas in 1936, age 3, Fejervary Park Zoo. |
100 Years of Excitement
for the Citizens of Davenport, Iowa
by
GEORGE T. NICKOLAS
PRESIDENT – FEJERVARY ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY |
The early leaders of Davenport were the key to the cultural evolution of the city. But, it was not until the formation of the Board of Parks Commissioners that we began developing parks for the citizens of Davenport. The Fejervary Zoological Society hopes to give you an idea of what has happened to a 60-acre plot of land in West Davenport that has become Fejervary Park and Zoo.
We start with a Hungarian, a descendant of nobility and a prominent legislator in his country, Nicholas Fejervary. As a leader in the liberal party he was active in the revolution of 1848-49. When this struggle for liberty came to an unsuccessful end, Mr. Fejervary found the political conditions unendurable and decided to emigrate to the United States of America. The United States offered an opportunity in an environment that did not have impediments in the path of entrepreneurial individuals.
Davenport, Iowa is one of these places that called out to people from the heart of Europe to come and put down their roots. Mr. Fejervary liked Davenport because this was the place that reminded him of his birthplace, the beautiful Hungary on the far-famed Danube. In 1853 he constructed a beautiful home on the hillside in what is now Fejervary Park.
Following the death of Nicholas Fejervary his daughter, Miss Celestine Fejervary returned to Budapesth, Hungary. She decided to donate the homestead of her father to the City of Davenport. She wanted him to be remembered by the City in which he lived during the later years of his life and the home he had enjoyed. The donation was of the twenty-one acres that composed the homestead and the house in which he lived with the view of the Mississippi River and the Western Part of Davenport.
The Davenport City Council at a meeting held on December 3, 1902 unanimously accepted the donation to the city made by Miss Celestine Fejervary. That is how the City of Davenport came into the possession of the land and building that stood on the hillside west of Wilkes and East of the railroad tracks between 9th Street on the South and 12th Street on the North side. The Board of Park Commissioners added some additional land that was purchased to enhance the area to become a site for a park that was planned as the jewel of the parks system in Davenport.
The Board of Park Commissioners wanted to develop Fejervary Park into a prime destination for the citizens of Davenport. There was no rush to open the park to the public, but rather they wanted to systematically plan and developed the property. The Commissioners wanted the property to eclipse in popularity all the other parks of the city. They worked with the Tri-City Street Car Company to run a rail spur connecting on Seventh and Marquette with its Northwest Davenport line directly into the park. The Warren Street cars of the Northwest Davenport line made an excellent connection from downtown Davenport.
The Commissioners worked with the Architects of Claussen and Claussen to transform the old Fejervary home into a very attractive pavilion. The city was complemented for not being cheap in the transformation of the Nicholas Fejervary home into the Fejervary Inn.
The Park Commissioners even kept the old prints that were pasted upon the panels and had them preserved with a coat of varnish. The thought was that a thrifty housewife to whom the beauty of the plain panel did not appeal desired to add a touch of color to the room.
One of the mysteries that remains is when was the Inn torn down? We have not been able to find out any information to destruction of this wonderful asset. It was replaced by a log cabin that stood on the hillside above the swimming and wading pool on the south part of the park. If anyone living can tell what might have happened to the Fejervary Inn we would be happy to fill in the hole in this story of the park.
Following the opening of Fejervary Park and its companion zoo, the Fejervary Park experience became a key summertime Davenport activity for citizens. The Fejervary Inn served as a place that many would come to enjoy the view and a picnic lunch. With the advent of World War I many things changed and following the war a lot of changes took place at the park.
In 1925 Monkey Island became a dream and it was thought to be an “impossible” task. Early reports from the Board of Park Commissioners revealed that they anticipated difficulties of construction and maintenance. However, work began just two years later in 1927. On June 16, 1928, 70 Rhesus Macaques were released on Monkey Island and the tradition of Monkey Island at Fejervary Park had begun.
In 1953 plans to convert a part of the zoo into an entertainment concept with animals began. It was called Mother Goose land. It became a very popular place for the parents to bring their children. The entrance was a large cement goose thru which people would enter Mother Goose land. This Goose has become the second landmark of the Fejervary Zoo and over 100,000 people visited Mother Goose Land one year. In 1959 the Western Trails were added with donkey rides, panning for gold, and other themes of the old west. There was even an old wagon, which resembled the wagons that crossed the Great Plains.
In the 1970’s the attendance declined at Mother Goose land and we began to have problems with the original Monkey Island display that housed the animals in a den under the island in the winter. The island became a problem with the US Department of Agriculture and its regulations. Monkey Island was closed in 1978. The Parks and Recreation Department in 1980 was faced with the question of what to do with Monkey Island and Mother Goose land. The City Council’s decision was to reconstruct Monkey Island and that began in 1981. The Island was completely demolished and redeveloped. This time using new techniques of an “artificial rock landscape,” the island displayed a new natural setting for the Rhesus Macaques. The monkeys, once housed under the island, were housed in a new winter quarters’ building that was connected to the island on the east side of Monkey Island.
The other part of the renovation was to make the zoo into a North American Animal Zoo. Departure from Davenport of several manufacturing plants in the 1980’s hit Fejervary’s projects hard. The Fejervary Zoo fell into a period when not much was added to the zoo. Money that was supposed to be used out of the Hotel/Motel Tax was diverted away from the zoo to support the Davenport River Center and its operation. This was to draw people downtown and to area hotels.
In the 1990’s Mayor Gibbs openly discussed the abolition of the Fejervary Zoo that he characterized as a broken down zoo with sick monkeys and a few other small animals. With the addition of new council people in 1994, there was serious discussion to eliminate the cost of the zoo out of a budget that was already stretched thin. It was Alderman at Large John “Jack” Caffery, ad Democrat and newly elected Alderman George Nickolas who joined forces to save the zoo. They introduced a resolution to establish a Zoological Society to help bring life back to Fejervary Zoo.
A general meeting was held of the public to obtain citizens feedback and interest in the idea of the Zoological Society. Over 100 people attended who express the people were unanimous in the need and desire to maintain the Fejervary Zoo. The focus of the Fejervary Zoo was to be a North American Wild and Domestic Animal venue.
Mayor Gibbs wanted the Zoo contracted out to a private operator. The Fejervary Zoological Society opposed that effort, but a contract with D & J Touch of Wild Life was entered into for zoo operation. Over the years this did not prove to be a good arrangement. In 1998 a decision was made to cancel the arrangement with D & J Touch of Wild Life and renovate the zoo into a City of Davenport operation under the Department of Leisure Facilities.
After a little over a year of renovation, the Fejervary Children’s Zoo opened. The zoo was a small operation at minimum cost to the City of Davenport. Monkey Island was changed into Cougar Island. A decision was made to send the monkeys to Texas for rehabilitation and to let them spend their remaining days in Texas.
Conversion to Cougar Island was dramatic to those who remembered Monkey Island, but many accepted the concept of Cougar Island. The Island made an excellent habitat for the four mountain lions. These mountain lions are Beauty, Beast, TAZ and Majanna. Beauty and Beast are older females that came from another zoo, and Taz was a male that had been rehabilitated by Vickie Mulch, and Majanna came from a traveling large cat operation.
Cougar Island has increased in popularity. The hot summer months are not kind to the cougars that are more suited for cooler weather. In the winter, when the public is not always around, the cougars are very active. Often people park outside the fence and peek at the cougars that might sun themselves on top of the rocks on the island. Sometimes Taz will meow when he sees a familiar face. He has never outgrown his experience with Vickie Mulch’s children and home. Majanna sometimes is led around the zoo with a friendly handler, but everyone remembers that these are wild animals and govern them accordingly.
After the zoo opened and was operating, a push was made to add a children’s garden on the upper level. This provided use of the area south of Money Island. The garden has plants that grow the food that goes into meals. The youth are taken around that garden and explained what the various items being grown are. A butterfly attracting area was developed and it has attracted butterflies that are enjoyed by people coming to the zoo. After the garden had been opened a local model railroad group built a model railroad display. Cars and engines run around those tracks in the summer months.
After the Children’s Zoo had been open a couple of years, Alderman Nickolas asked Mr. Lyle Haackenson, designer of many lighting displays around the Quad-Cities, to consider decorating the Zoo for Christmas. For several years from early December until after Christmas, the handy work of Lyle can be seen nightly at Fejervary. His display has grown to over three city blocks in length. Every year something new is added. In 2004, music was added to the display.
What is on the horizon? The next big project is the building of an educational building where school children can come for educational programs and summer camps. Summer camps have been a big even with many of the area youth. They learn about wild life that live or have lived in the area. They have many chances for hands on experience with fowl, rabbits, goats, calves and other small animals. Summer camps are conducted in cooperation with the Putnam Museum.
Fejervary’s mission is not only for the entertainment of our citizens, but a place where people who have not had an opportunity to interact with domestic animals can come and experience the animal encounter.
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Fejervary Park Zoo 1915 from the Davenport Parks Department
Bear
Buffalo
Buffalo Drive
Comfort Station and Inn
Elk
Ostriches and Elk
Fejervary Park Drive
Pheasant Cage
Sunken Garden
Fejervary Winter Landscape
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If you have any pictures, slides, film or stories from Fejervary Park, Monkey Island, the Western Trail or Mother Goose Land from the 1950s through the 1970s, please CLICK HERE to email me!
Little Buckaroos were now able to pack their guns and ride burros on Rattlesnake Gulch Trail. On this trip they went past Boot Hill Cemetery, the lost mine, the Silver Dollar Saloon, the Wells Fargo office, Calico Hotel and then all the way up to Fort Apache. 
