Wawa history · The Wawa Goose
A giant goose, a bypassed town, and the name behind it all
The Wawa Goose is one of the most photographed monuments in North America. But the reason it exists is a small-town gamble that paid off — and the story goes back a lot further than 1960.
Start with the name
What "Wawa" means
The name comes from the Ojibwe language and is usually translated as "wild goose" or "land of the big goose." It's tied to Wawa Lake, at the heart of town.
So the goose isn't a random mascot — the town was named for the geese long before anyone poured concrete. That connection is exactly why the statue feels right instead of gimmicky.
Before it was Wawa, the settlement was known as Michipicoten, after the river nearby. Its early story runs through fur trading, then gold and iron-ore mining, forestry, and even boat-building.
1960 · The gamble
How a highway snub built a landmark
When the last link of the Trans-Canada Highway opened in 1960, it connected Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa — but it skirted the edge of town by about a mile. Local business owners watched travellers drive straight past.
The first goose
Businessmen Al Turcott, Mel Phillips, and Jerry Spreng dreamed up a giant goose to pull cars into town. The first one stood 27 feet tall, built of plaster over a chicken-wire frame by a craftsman who'd also worked on Calgary's dinosaur statues. It looked great — and it did not survive a single northern winter well.
The steel bird
A tougher replacement went up, welded from steel by Dick Vanderclift of Sault Ste. Marie and built with Algoma Steel — a nod to the iron ore the region was mined for. This is the goose that stood guard for more than 50 years and became a Canadian icon.
The third goose
By its fifties, the old bird was rusting through its tail and one wing. The town raised money — with help from federal and provincial funds — for a new, more durable goose, unveiled on Canada Day 2017 at a cost of around $300,000. One town official put it plainly: without the goose, there might be no town.
The supporting cast
A song, a moose, and 65,000 selfies
The goose is so beloved it earned its own song — Stompin' Tom Connors wrote "Little Wawa" about a goose who stayed behind for love. Around 65,000 travellers stop at the monument each season.
Down the road, Young's General Store keeps a stuffed moose on the porch — the current one nicknamed "Henrietta the Hardier" after the original was famously seized by conservation officers in 2001.
Wander the "Signs of History" and "Heritage Doors" downtown, or visit the Mining Heritage Park, and you start to see the town behind the bird: gold, iron, forest, and water.
Snap the goose. Then go fishing.
The photo takes two minutes. The lakes are worth two weeks.