Overview
The emergence of trolley parks in the 1890s coincided with the rise to prominence of three entities: the electric utility companies (which grew rapidly as much of the United States was undergoing electrification since the 1880s), the railway companies (which constructed new interurban rail lines mainly in the eastern half of the U. S.), and – starting about 1890 – the replacement of horse-drawn cars by electric trolley companies. A fourth contributor to the rise in amusement parks in the first decade of the 20th century was the success of Coney Island, [3] which spurred the establishment of dozens of Electric Parks, Luna Parks, and White City amusement parks (the latter actually inspired by White City in the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago), with many metropolitan areas having at least two parks with these names.
Most Electric Parks were owned by electric companies and trolley companies, many of which transported workers and shoppers between downtowns to residential and industrial areas. After 1900, interurban electric rail lines began carrying commuters from one city to another. Originally, the trolleys and interurban lines either operated at a reduced level on weekends or were completely idle. To generate weekend traffic, the companies eventually created new destinations, generally at the end of their lines, for the public to attend on the weekends, at picnic parks, or later at amusement parks. [2] Regardless of the type of park, the destinations owned by the local electric company or accessed by the electric trolley were commonly called electric parks. After 1903, Luna Park in Coney Island's success (with the park's entrance decked with electric lights) inspired the creation of Electric Parks, which spread throughout North America. At the same time, the similarly-inspired Frederick Ingersoll started to construct his Luna Park empire.
Like their Luna Park and White City cousins, a typical Electric Park featured a shoot the chute and lagoon, a roller coaster (usually a figure eight or a mountain railway), a midway, a Ferris wheel, games, and a pavilion. Most also had miniature railroads. Many cities had two, or all three, of the triumvirate of Electric Park, Luna Park, and White City in their vicinity, with each trying to outdo the others with new attractions, and exhibiting a simulation of the Johnstown Flood of 1889. The competition was fierce, often driving the electric parks out of business with increasing costs of equipment upgrades, upkeep, and insurance. Some succumbed to fire. As a result, most were out of business by 1917, the year the United States entered World War I. By the time troops returned to the U.S. in 1919, almost all the Electric Parks were gone.
