 Postcard | |
| Location | Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°17′13″N95°59′47″W / 41.28694°N 95.99639°W |
| Opened | 1895 |
| Closed | 1940 |
| Owner | Frederick Krug |
| Slogan | "Omaha's Polite Resort" |
Krug Park (currently known as Gallagher Park) was an amusement park located at 2936 North 52nd Street in the Benson neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States at the turn of the 20th century. [1] In 1930, Krug Park was the site of the deadliest roller coaster accident in the nation's history. [2]
Charles Tietz, an early Omaha German-American pioneer, founded the park in 1895. In 1902 the Frederick Krug Brewing Company bought it and ran it as Krug Park, a beer garden with amusement rides. Rides included a tunnel of love, an ice cream parlor, and a hot air balloon. Dancers performed nightly in a dance pavilion. Swimming pools, a waterfall, a wave machine, and a two-story bathhouse were added in 1918. Fred Krug referred to it as "a complete amusement park." Early advertisements referred to Krug Park as "Omaha's Polite Resort."
The most deadly roller coaster accident in the United States up to 1930 happened at Krug Park. [3] [4] On July 24, the park's "Big Dipper" roller coaster crashed. After 6 p.m., a bolt worked loose and four cars full of children and teenagers plunged to the ground. Four people, Ruth Claire Farrell (15), C.H. Stout (34), Tony Politika (22) and Gladys Lundgren (29), [5] were killed and 17 were injured. [2] The Omaha City Council immediately passed an ordinance banning roller coasters in Omaha. Krug Park stayed open but business declined afterwards, and it closed in 1940. [6]
| Gallagher Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Benson in Omaha, Nebraska |
| Area | 18.8 acres (76,000 m2) |
| Created | 1941 |
| Operated by | City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department |
| Status | Open all year |
It was landscaped into a traditional style park in 1955. [1] It has been renamed Gallagher Park, and is a public park. The current park is 18.8 acres (76,000 m2) [7] and contains three ball fields, a playground, and a city swimming pool featuring a water slide, diving boards, and additional water play features. [8]
Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to a lake of the same name. The first amusement ride was added in 1889, and the park's first roller coaster – the Big Dipper – was built in 1925. The park was sold to Funtime, Inc., in 1969 and was expanded over the years with additional rides and amenities. Funtime was acquired by Premier Parks in 1995, and for the 2000 season, they re-branded Geauga Lake as Six Flags Ohio, adding four new roller coasters. The following year, Six Flags bought the adjacent SeaWorld Ohio and combined the two parks under the name Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.
Knoebels Amusement Resort is a family-owned and operated amusement park, picnic grove, and campground in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1926, it is the United States's largest free-admission park. The park has more than 60 rides including three wooden roller coasters, three steel roller coasters, a 1913 carousel, and two haunted house dark rides.
Lagoon is a family owned amusement park in Farmington, Utah, located about 18 miles north of Salt Lake City. Lagoon is divided into five main areas: The Midway, containing the majority of the rides; Pioneer Village, which has several exhibits displaying pioneer buildings and artifacts; Lagoon-A-Beach, a water park; Kiddie Land, an area with several rides for small children; and X-Venture Zone, featuring more extreme rides that are upcharged. Lagoon also offers an RV park, a campground, and a walking trail outside the park that stays open all year. Every autumn, the park offers Halloween-themed shows and attractions, collectively known as Frightmares.
Lakeside Amusement Park is a family-owned amusement park in Lakeside, Colorado, adjacent to Denver. Opened in 1908, it is the oldest amusement park in Colorado still operating in its original location, and is the lone remaining American amusement park to have had the name White City. The park, comprising nearly half of the Town of Lakeside that it was responsible for creating in 1907, features the landmark Tower of Jewels.
Lake Winnepesaukah, commonly known as Lake Winnie, is an amusement park located in Rossville, Georgia, on the south of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Carl and Minette Dixon opened the park to over 5,000 guests on June 1, 1925. They named it after the Native American word Winnepesaukah, meaning "bountiful waters" or "beautiful lake of the highlands". The park originally featured the largest swimming pool in the southeastern United States, which debuted in 1926 and was later removed. Its Boat Chute attraction, designed by Carl Dixon and opened in 1927, is the oldest mill chute water ride of its kind still operating in the United States.
Belmont Park is an oceanfront historic amusement park in the Mission Beach community of San Diego, California. The park was developed by sugar magnate John D. Spreckels and opened on July 4, 1925 as the Mission Beach Amusement Center. In addition to providing recreation and amusement, it was intended as a way to help Spreckels sell land in Mission Beach. Located on the beach, it attracts millions of people each year.
Benson is a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Now a pocket within North Omaha, Benson Place was originally platted in 1887 and was annexed into the City of Omaha in 1917. Actor Nick Nolte lived in the Benson area before moving to the Westside district.
Idora Park (1899–1984) was an amusement park in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, also known as "Youngstown's Million Dollar Playground."
Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park Resort is a theme park and water park resort complex in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The resort is themed after Ancient Greece, particularly its mythology and gods, and is named after the mountain in Greece where those gods were said to live. Mt. Olympus features an indoor and outdoor water park and amusement park rides, and the complex includes dozens of mom-and-pop motel buildings that were acquired by the resort in addition to its purpose-built hotel.
Lakemont Park is an amusement park located in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The park opened in 1894 as a trolley park and became an amusement park in 1899. It is one of only thirteen trolley parks still operating, and the 8th oldest amusement park in the United States. The park was closed from 2017 to 2018, but re-opened in summer 2019. It closed for the 2024 season.
The Pike was an amusement zone in Long Beach, California. The Pike was founded in 1902 along the shoreline south of Ocean Boulevard with several independent arcades, food stands, gift shops, a variety of rides and a grand bath house. It was most noted for the Cyclone Racer (1930–1968), a large wooden dual-track roller coaster, built out on pilings over the water.
Rockaways' Playland was an amusement park that operated from 1902 to 1987 in Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York City. Bounded by Beach 97th and Beach 98th Streets between Rockaway Beach Boulevard and the Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk, Rockaways' Playland was created in 1902 by roller coaster designer LaMarcus Adna Thompson. By 1903 a ferry dock was added not far from the park, making it more convenient to reach than some of the competing amusement parks. The park was sold in 1927 to Robert Katlin, who added amenities such as a gym and swimming pool, and the following year to A. Joseph Geist, who achieved greater success than the previous owners. Between 1928 and 1970, Rockaways' Playland was extremely successful, drawing 175 million visitors. It closed in 1987 due to a sharp increase in the price of insurance.
The Fred Krug Brewery was located at 2435 Deer Park Boulevard in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1859, Krug Brewery was the first brewery in the city. Krug was one of the "Big 4" brewers located in Omaha, which also included the Storz, Willow Springs and Metz breweries. Later sold to Falstaff in 1936, the facility closed in 1987.
Indianola Park was a trolley park that operated in Columbus, Ohio's University District from 1905 to 1937. The amusement park was created by Charles Miles and Frederick Ingersoll, and peaked in popularity in the 1910s, entertaining crowds of up to 10,000 with the numerous roller coasters and rides, with up to 5,000 in the massive pool alone. The park was also the home field for the Columbus Panhandles for half of a decade. In the 1920s, new owners bought and remodeled the park, and it did well until it closed at the end of the Great Depression.
Peony Park was an amusement park located at North 78th and Cass Streets in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1919, over the next seventy-five years the 35-acre (140,000 m2) park included a 4.5-acre (18,000 m2) pool, beach and waterslide, a ballroom that billed itself as "1 acre under one roof," an open-air dance area for 3000 dancers, amusement rides, and various sundries. The park closed in 1994. Throughout its existence the park maintained its status as Nebraska's largest amusement park.
Tourism in Omaha, Nebraska, United States offers visitors history, sports, nature and cultural experiences. Its principal tourist attractions are the Henry Doorly Zoo and the College World Series (CWS). A 2003 study by a Creighton University economist estimated that the CWS added $33.8 million to the city's economy that year. With 1.1 million visitors annually, the Henry Doorly Zoo is Nebraska's most popular tourist attraction. In 2007 Omaha hosted the USA Roller Sports National Championships, along with 10,000 people who auditioned for the American Idol television show at Qwest Center Omaha.
Fun-Plex is an amusement park located at 7003 Q Street in the Ralston neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. It is the largest amusement park in Nebraska, Fun-Plex began as “The Kart Ranch” in 1979 with just a go-kart track. In 2015 Fun-Plex is putting a brand new water feature called Makana Splash a water play structure with a 317-gallon bucket that drops water on you. In 2016 Fun-Plex built Nebraska's Only Swim up bar called Breakers Bay Bar. In 2018 Fun-Plex adds Rockin’ Rapids, the biggest and most impressive addition to the park in 40 years! The attraction features two tube slides for single or double riders.
Frederick Ingersoll was an American inventor, designer, builder and entrepreneur who created the world's first chain of amusement parks and whose manufacturing company built 277 roller coasters, fueling the popularity of trolley parks in the first third of the twentieth century. Some of these parks and roller coasters still exist today.
Luna Park was an amusement park on the West Side of Charleston, West Virginia, United States, that was open to the public from 1912 until 1923. Located on the western side of Charleston on the north bank of the Kanawha River, the park was a popular destination that featured a roller coaster, a dance pavilion, a public swimming pool, a roller rink, and live entertainment. Admission to the park cost 15 cents per person; a ride on the Royal Giant Dips roller coaster cost one dime per trip. It was a trolley park served by the Charleston Interurban Railroad Company.
