Forest Park Highlands was an American amusement park in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated from 1896 to 1963.
Forest Park Highlands opened in 1896 as a beer garden. [1]
Sophie Tucker, John Philip Sousa, and Jack Dempsey appeared there. [1]
It featured a pagoda from the 1904 World's Fair [1] held across the street in Forest Park. [2] It also had a ferris wheel, railway, dodgem cars, tiltawhirls, shooting galleries, doll throws, and wheels of chance. [1]
By 1963, the park was struggling and there was interest in building a community college on the site. [1] A fire on July 19, 1963, destroyed all but the swimming pool and the frame of the wooden roller coaster. [3] Two years later, it was announced that St. Louis Community College–Forest Park would be built on the land. [4] [5]
The park's 1920 Dentzel carousel survived the fire and operates today at Faust Park in Chesterfield, Missouri.