During our trip to Lake Superior we were able to visit another Still Standing town. Wawa is known in Canada as the place where hitchhikers get stuck and eventually settle down and stay.
We didn’t hitchhike, so we were able to leave and tell the tale.
If you are in the area, at least stop at the museum just off the highway. The vista beyond the highway to the west is lovely, with Magpie River and reservoir peeking through the forest. If you have time, go check out the Magpie Waterfalls.
Although the museum was Covid-closed, there’s a lot of interesting outdoors interpretation and displays to explore on the grounds.
The path leading to the giant goose
has a series of large, life-like storyboards that tell the story of the area and the people that influenced the town.
The back of the board tells the story of each one of these people.
Here is Agnes Turcott’s story.
And Al’s
This is the location for the final link of the Trans Canada Highway, completed in 1960.
The word Wawa is from the Ojibwe wild goose, or land of the big goose. It was the official town name for a while when some town’s folks attempted to change the name to Jamestown. This resulted in a fierce seven year feud, but the name Wawa prevailed! You can read all about it in this 1954 Maclean’s article.
Since the new highway bypassed the town instead of going through it as originally planned, the town folks came up with an idea to erect the large goose statue to attract visitors.
The goose above is the a newer, metal goose, but there are several large, older geese scattered through town.
unexpectedly coming into view.
The new goose definitely dominates the skyline
and despite Covid there were lots of tourists about taking photos. I guess the goose was a good idea after all.
We had to move on and only had time for a short drive through Wawa. Next time we’ll explore some more!
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This little town certainly made a name for itself. What a neat story. Hopefully it continues to stir up lots of interest.
Haha, I love that you said that it made a name for itself 🙂
I wonder how many descendants of hitchhikers live there.
Quite a few I hear 🙂
Interesting post. I will be sure not to hitch hike in WaWa. Such a funny name.
Thanks! And yes, just to be on the safe side 🙂
Fun stop! I’ll need to make a note of Wawa. I’d love to do a Lake Superior loop tour one day. Many years ago, we did one around Lake Michigan and enjoyed it.
Yeah, lots of great stops along the way. I really want to do the loop too, maybe we can do it at the same time and meet at the border 🙂
I had heard the hitchhikers’ tale in a report on Radio-Canada, it’s always someone who has heard of … in the end they didn’t find anybody
So much effort is put into attracting attention, but it is always done with a bit of humour while being informative. Thanks for relaying it.
Yeah, it’s a funny story, however in the Still Standing show they interviewed a “stay put hitchhiker”, or at least they said that he was 🙂 Who knows….
Thanks for all of the history surrounding Wawa and some of the people who influenced that area.
My dad was a wildlife biologist who worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service on the Recovery Program for the Aleutian Cackling Goose (a subspieces of the Canada Goose). The reason we moved to California when I was starting high school centers around his involvement with this project. During migration, they fly from the Aleutian Islands to the Central Valley of California and western Mexico. They often stop in our area (northern California right on the ocean). The program was so successful that this species is now plentiful.
Thanks, Pete! It must have been fascinating for you to grow up with exposure to your dad’s work! I had to look up Aleutian Cackling Goose as I have not heard of them before. Lo and behold they do look like Canada Geese 🙂
I didn’t know that Wawa was so well-known for its stranded hitchhikers. But I guess it makes sense given that it is in the middle of nowhere. We briefly stopped here on our Northern Ontario road trip this summer to take a picture of the giant goose. Next time we’ll have to check out the Magpie waterfalls.
When we first moved to Canada some 33 years ago, the only source of information we had was a Lonely Planet book about Canada which I read front to back. Wawa stuck in my brain because of the name and the reference to the stranded hitchhikers, so this story goes way back. We didn’t make it to the falls either. Next time!
When I hear Wawa, I immediately think of the greatest convenience store chain in the U.S. – Wawa. It’s a Philly-based chain with over 800 stores, from New York to Florida. It puts 7-11 to shame.
So it was fun reading about where they got their name from (the store symbol is a goose); the CEO refers to himself as the Head Goose…
I’ve written a post or two about this hometown treasure…
Funny, you are the second person mentioning the store and I have to say that despite extended travel in the US, I don’t remember ever seeing it. Apparently their Gobblers are to die for. I will head over to read your posts 🙂
I’m not sure what the Gobbler is. I think they are best known for their hoagies and coffee. and just for being a great convenience store…
Apparently the Gobbler (turkey) Hoagies it’s a must try, and they have them only around thanksgiving time!
ok, I have heard of those. I did not know what they were called!
by the way, I just started having trouble commenting on your post from my WP Reader. I had to go to your actual site…
Hmm, I hope WP is not freaking out because I have too many comments…
it might be on my end, since it happening with another site I am trying to leave a comment on. but it is not happening with most sites…
It sometimes happens to me too. In many of the cases it’s because it signed me out. Hope it’s not too annoying.
not at all…
The name Wawa sounded vaguely familiar to me, but (although I’ve traveled in Ontario several times) I don’t recall ever being to Wawa, Ontario. So I googled Wawa and found that there’s a town of that name near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…..and I realized why it sounded familiar. I lived in that area for about a year when I was seven years old (many decades ago). So, thanks to your post, I remember Wawa!
That’s great! Funny that you mention Wawa, Pennsylvania. I just found the other day that there is another Wawa!