If you’re driving Route 66 and heading west into the hilly heart of Waynesville, Missouri, keep your eyes peeled to the right side of the road. There, perched proudly on a slope just east of downtown, you’ll find the town’s most toad-ally terrific resident: W.H. Croaker, better known as Frog Rock in Waynesville, Missouri.
Back in the 1990s, the Missouri Department of Transportation was widening Route 66 to three lanes when they uncovered a lumpy boulder in the hillside. While most folks would have seen just another rock in the road, local tattoo artist, Army medic, and all-around creative Phil Nelson saw something more, and decided to take the leap! At first, there were ideas to turn the rock into a tiger’s head, but eventually it was decided to turn it into a frog.
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In 1996, armed with sculpting tools provided by the city and a whole lot of artistic elbow grease, Nelson got to work. For nine months, through snow, sweat, and steamy Ozark summers, he chipped, carved, and painted the big rock until a grinning green frog emerged from the stone. Nelson did the work free of charge simply because he wanted to give back to the town he called home.
And so W.H. Croaker was born, with “W.H.” standing for “Waynesville Hill,” his cozy little perch. Since then, the town’s unofficial mascot has become a full-blown Route 66 celebrity and, in 2016, Frog Rock officially leapt into the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), a federal database of notable natural features.
Frog Rock is such a popular local landmark that every October, Waynesville celebrates its amphibious ambassador with an event known as Frogtoberfest—a toad-ally fun time with music, games, and plenty of green-themed cheer.
These days, volunteers keep W.H. Croaker lookin’ fresh with a new coat of paint every few years, and he’s even got some lily pad-style supports to help him lounge in style.
Make sure to hop over to Frog Rock on your Route 66 road trip. He’s quirky, he’s charming, and he’s proof that with a little imagination, even a rock can leap into legend.
Photos of Frog Rock (W.H. Croaker) in Waynesville, Missouri
