Since 1955, Storybook Lane has been an integral part of Christmas in Tuscarawas County. People from all over come to New Philadelphia to see the display as part of their yearly tradition.  As most Dover and New Philadelphia residents know, the display is near the pond in Tuscora Park. Every December, the road is lined with an array of stories and nursery rhymes brought to life by mechanical parts.
Storybook Lane was the vision of Victor E. Marsh. He wanted to create an exciting display to entertain children during the holidays. His neighbors agreed to help, allowing for a four-block-long line of stories.
The first Christmas season after the grand opening, thousands of people lined the road with their cars up and down East High Avenue. The stories were displayed every year until the early 1970s. Over the first 20 years of Storybook Lane, more and more people gathered every year to enjoy their favorite stories. As time passed, traffic congestion became a huge problem around the holidays. To combat this issue, Storybook Lane needed to be moved to a more private location where people could drive as slowly as they liked: Tuscarora Park.
Ellie Kirk was the daughter of Victor Marsh. After he passed, she inherited his vision and was determined to keep it alive. After fifty years of entertaining children, the displays were in pretty bad condition. She decided to turn to the New Philadelphia Rotary Club to help her restore Storybook Lane to its former glory. In late 2001, the Club agreed to take on the challenge of almost completely restoring the displays.
Fixing the figures was no small feat. Parts had to be replaced, characters had to be repainted… Some displays had entire characters missing! The New Philadelphia Rotary Club spent months on the project, putting extreme care and detail into every painting. On December 14th, they moved the updated stories to Tuscora Park. After all of the Rotary Club’s hard work, Storybook Lane is once again a tradition for the children of Tuscarawas County to enjoy.
In December of 2021, Storybook Lane was vandalized. Red spray paint covered most, if not all, of the signs. Some of the mechanical parts were also damaged and cost a large sum of money to replace. Many families and businesses within the community volunteered to donate money to help with the repairs. Until this incident, there had never been an attempt to vandalize Storybook Lane. The display is sentimental to so many residents of Tuscarawas County, and few people would ever imagine ruining it for the next generation of children.
The effect that Storybook Lane has had on the people of Tuscarawas County is immeasurable. It has become the centerpiece of countless family traditions and Christmases in our community and will continue to do so for generations to come.