Backstory: When Casper’s Funland was Wyoming’s only amusement park

CASPER, Wyo. – The area of North Forrest Drive on Casper’s east side has seemingly been built up with businesses and restaurants for ages. There was a time before all of this when almost nothing but high desert existed past the edge of town, with the exception of a couple of notable things. A drive-in theater called the Terrace, and magical place called Funland.

Hoover’s Funland opened in the late 1950s, and during its run featured animals both exotic and not-so-exotic, a working miniature steam train that gave rides, a merry-go-round and other assorted rides, mini golf, and an old fashioned Wells Fargo horse-drawn wagon.

The park was owned and operated by Gene and Katherine Hoover, who – according to an announcement for their 50th anniversary – had lived in Casper since the 1920s, and were married in 1941. For his day job, Gene worked as an accountant at the Texaco Refinery, and Katherine worked in the lunch room at Morgan Junior High. They eventually opened and operated the Lucky 7 Teen Club, and the Redman Lodge in the same area as their amusement park.

In a 1960 Casper Tribune-Herald & Star article published just ahead of its May seasonal opening, the Hoovers described how Funland started with their desire to entertain their two young daughters with a couple of ponies. Eventually, their friends and kids around the neighborhood were coming over for pony rides. Four years and some $50,000 later (a staggering $533,000 in today’s money), the Hoovers had built an entire western fantasy land and zoo for families all over the region to visit. For free. There were nominal charges for the rides, however.

“We’ve always felt like Casper has needed something like this,” Gene told the newspaper.

The Hoovers collected nearly 200 animals, including coyotes, a lion and a bear, eagles, hawks, guinea pigs, deodorized skunks, peacocks, lynx cats, and a red fox, among others. State laws prohibited them from collecting Wyoming native creatures, so they mainly relied on Canadian suppliers, they said, all cared for by the Hoovers and a staff of volunteer keepers. “It’s a big problem feeding that many animals,” he told the paper. “We feed 3,000 pounds of meet a year.” There were seven meat lockers and two deep freezers on site. But there were problems even before they officially opened. One animal was poisoned, and a skunk was swiped from its cage.

Funland operated into the early 1970s before eventually closing. Numerous ads listing the Funland parcels for sale were published in 1976, giving way to Casper’s continued business growth.

The Hoovers moved to Denver in the 2000s to be closer to one of their daughters and her family. According to their obituaries, Gene died on Oct. 29, 2006, at age 90, and Katherine Hoover died on Dec. 16, 2016, at age 99.