I guess to really understand Happydale you have to understand both its history and what’s going on today. I mean, Happydale isn’t like Chicago or Flagstaff where people move in and out all the time. Most people who come to Happydale do so for a reason and end up staying. I know when my mom moved Melinda (my sister) and me from Las Vegas to live with our Aunt Constance I didn’t know what to make of this place. Now I’m used to it and have made some really nice friends. 
In 1903 my grandfather, Winston Merryweather, bought the Yeardly Brother’s Traveling Carnival and began touring the south with it. Business was pretty good initially; Winston met a pretty girl named Violet (my grandmother), who worked in the Girlie Show, and they got married. The show traveled year-round mostly in Georgia, Florida and Arkansas though sometimes Winston would take them to bigger cities like Washington DC or New York. Things were all well and good until World War I broke out. 
When the United States got involved, a lot of the young men who had kept the Traveling Carnival alive by visiting the exhibits went off to war and for a lot of people money was tight so they couldn’t afford to waste it on entertainment. Some of the Carnival’s performers left the troupe to join the army or find work in the big cities. A core group remained though and they still did okay traveling to black towns where money audiences were bigger. It was in one of these towns that the idea for Happydale was born. The troupe had pulled into Sage, Louisiana and set up for the night when a few of them decided to go to the local bar for some drinks. It’s hard to tell what happened next really, my grandfather’s diary says that the troupe’s resident fat lady Joyous Joy Muldoon had an affair with one of the young men of the town but Kay Lighter, in her book “Happydale Revealed” says it was Winston who had the affair. However it worked out someone learned about it and when the accusations started flying so did law and order. All of Sage was in an uproar and a mob chased the troupe out of town and almost killed Joyous Joy. My grandfather and those who worked for him were used to being misunderstood, but they’d never been attacked en masse before. In Winston’s mind this called for drastic measures. 
Winston began leading the troupe west,, stopping in towns to spend the night but never performing. He was, he said, leading “his people” to “the promised land”. This didn’t go over well with a few of the members, who left, but Winston remained undaunted. More people left when it became evident that Yeardly Brothers’ was no long a Carnival as much as it was an Exodus, but some stayed hoping to start a new life out west. As Winston traveled, more people were added. Almost everyone had a “dark secret”, a weird behavior or some kind of abnormality. In some cases Winston enlisted these people, in others the person’s family paid him to take them. In September, 1919 Winston stopped the line and pointed out their “homeland”. This “homeland” turned out to be a dry expanse of desert completely cut off from civilization. A lot of people questioned his wisdom and some went back to Phoenix or on to California. But a good two hundred people remained and it was they who built the town. Winston christened it Happydale because, he said, it was the one place where all would be accepted without question. 
Winston died in May, 1935. At that time the population of the town was 350 and it was a frequent off-season home for a number of carnival performers. Since then the population has grown some but it's still a small town. This is mostly because people with “differences” are much more accepted now than they were in the early part of the century. That’s not to say the only people left are grotesque freaks or psychotics. A lot of normal people live in Happydale because they like the small town atmosphere and the lack of crime. But others still come here to seek refuge. For a lot of people Happydale is like an oasis from the real world where they can be themselves. The people you’ll currently find in Happydale may be the same as other people living elsewhere, but here they can wear their differences on their sleeve. Happydale still has its share of problems; it’s not perfect. But overall it’s a nice place to live and one where you can be yourself without being judged too harshly. 
So what is Happydale? I guess for all its shortcomings it’s just what Winston Merryweather intended, a place where people who might not fit in in the everyday world can come and feel like they’re part of a community that accepts them for who they are. That’s what it is to me anyhow.