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An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately-designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.
Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park first opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1906 by F. W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan, both of whom later formed the family-owned Kennywood Entertainment Company. The company later sold Kennywood, along with four other parks, in 2007 to Parques Reunidos, an international entertainment operator based in Spain. The amusement park features various structures and rides dating back to the early 1900s. Along with Rye Playland Park, it is one of only two amusement parks designated as a National Historic Landmark. Kennywood is also one of only thirteen trolley parks in the United States that remains in operation.
In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. Trolley parks were often created by the streetcar companies to give people a reason to use their services on weekends.
Oaks Park is a small amusement park located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The park opened in May 1905 and is one of the oldest continually operating amusement parks in the country.
Lagoon is a privately owned amusement park in Farmington, Utah, United States, located about 18 miles north of Salt Lake City. It has ten roller coasters, five of which are unique; Colossus the Fire Dragon, the last Schwarzkopf Double Looping coaster still in operation in the United States ; Roller Coaster, one of the oldest coasters in the world operating since 1921; Wicked, designed by Lagoon's engineering department and Werner Stengel in cooperation with ride manufacturer Zierer; BomBora, a family coaster designed in-house; and Cannibal, built in-house with one of the world's steepest drops.
Lakeside Amusement Park is a family-owned amusement park in Lakeside, Colorado, adjacent to Denver. Originally named White City, it was opened in 1908 as a popular amusement resort adjacent to Lake Rhoda by the Denver Tramway, making it a trolley park. The amusement park was soon sold to Denver brewer Adolph Zang. Eventually the name was changed to Lakeside Amusement Park, but the local populace kept referring to it by its original name for its glittering original display of over 100,000 lights. Today it is one of only thirteen trolley parks operating and one of the oldest amusement parks in the United States, and the oldest still running in Colorado. The park, comprising nearly half of the Town of Lakeside that it was responsible for creating in 1907, features the landmark Tower of Jewels.
Luna Park Melbourne is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. It opened on 13 December 1912, with a formal opening a week later, and has been operating almost continuously ever since.
Conneaut Lake Park is a summer resort and amusement park, located in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, United States. It has long served as a regional tourist destination, and is noted by roller coaster enthusiasts for its classic Blue Streak coaster, which was recently classified as "historic" by the American Coaster Enthusiasts group. Conneaut Lake is Pennsylvania's largest natural (glacier) lake and is a popular summer resort for recreational boaters due to there being no horsepower limit on the lake.
Euclid Beach Park was an amusement park located on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.
Seabreeze Amusement Park, known locally as Seabreeze, is a historic amusement park in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, New York. It is one of only thirteen trolley parks still operating in the United States.
Mountain Park, located on Mount Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was originally built as a trolley park by the Holyoke Street Railway Company. Trolley parks were built just outside populated areas to encourage trolley usage on weekends. The Holyoke Street Railway company created two attractions, Mountain Park toward the base of Mount Tom, and a large house on the summit of the mountain.
Midway State Park, located in Maple Springs, New York, was established in 1898 by the Jamestown & Lake Erie Railway as a picnic ground. Today, it is recognized as the fifteenth-oldest continually operating amusement park in the United States, and the fifth-oldest remaining trolley park of the thirteen still operating in the United States.
Olentangy Park (1880–1939) was an amusement park in Columbus, Ohio. The park was once the largest in the United States.
Camden Park is a twenty-six acre amusement park located near Huntington, West Virginia. Established in 1903 as a picnic spot by the Camden Interstate Railway Company, it is one of only thirteen trolley parks that remain open in the United States. Whereas most trolley parks were located at the end of trolley lines, Camden Park is unusual in that it was built where riders traveling between Huntington and nearby cities would stop to change lines. Not long after opening, the park soon gained a carousel and other roadside attractions. Camden Park is West Virginia's only amusement park. The park is home to more than thirty rides and attractions, including a full-size traditional wooden roller coaster, the Big Dipper, and several other vintage rides.
The Myrtle Beach Pavilion was a historic pay-per-ride, no parking fee, 11-acre amusement park that was located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the corner of 9th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard. It was just a few blocks down from another Myrtle Beach amusement park, the Family Kingdom Amusement Park; both in the "heart" of Myrtle Beach. "The Pavilion" had well over 40 different attractions for kids and thrill-seekers alike, and included the wooden rollercoaster Hurricane: Category 5. Despite all the best efforts made by citizens to save the park, it was lost to redevelopment in 2007. While the park was officially closed and became a vacant lot on 9th Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in 2007, some of the rides and attractions were moved to Broadway at the Beach. Broadway at the Beach and the land at 9th Avenue are both owned by Burroughs & Chapin.
Ramona Park was an amusement park located in the city of East Grand Rapids, Michigan between 1897 and 1955. The Park included a double track wooden roller coaster, a theater pavilion, a ridable miniature railway and boat livery.
Known by a variety of names over its 101-year existence, Rocky Glen Park was a park near Moosic, Pennsylvania. Founded by Arthur Frothingham in 1886 as a picnic park, it was transformed into an amusement park by engineer and entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll in 1904. The trolley park was a popular Pennsylvania attraction that featured rides, arcades, and restaurants – even as a "wild west" theme park in the 1970s – until its closure in 1987.
Houston's Luna Park, was an amusement park that was operated from 1924 until about 1934. The 36-acre (150,000 m2) "Coney Island of Texas" was built at a cost of $325,000 and featured a carousel, picnic areas, live entertainment, a dance hall with spring-supported floors, and various mechanical rides, including the Giant Skyrocket roller coaster. At night the park was bathed in the light emitted from 50,000 light bulbs. While it was a trolley park, Houston's Luna Park was one of the first amusement parks to offer free automobile parking to its patrons.
Cascade Park is a nature park and former amusement park in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The park was originally known as Big Run Falls when the area on which the park sits was purchased by Col. Levi Brinton in 1892. Power companies at the turn of the twentieth century found they could make profits developing amusement parks, so in 1897, the New Castle Traction Company bought the property from Col. Brinton. When the company held a contest for the park's name, ten-year-old Edwina Norris won ten dollars for submitting the name Cascade Park. The park opened on May 29, 1897. The park was accessible not only via local trolley service but also via the Pittsburgh, Harmony, Butler and New Castle Railway, which later became the Harmony Short Line Motor Transportation Company' bus company.
The Columbia Gardens (1899–1973) was an amusement park in Butte, Montana, established by copper king William A. Clark and later owned and maintained by Anaconda Copper. During its 74 years of operation, it was the only major amusement park in the entire state.
References
- 1 2 R.V.L. (Mar 2, 1952). "Shellpot Park - Of Happy Memory". The Sunday Star.
- ↑ Miller, George (2011). A Delaware Album, 1900-1930: Cultural Studies of Delaware and the Eastern Shore. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 1611490448.
- ↑ Futrell, Jim (2002). Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania. Stackpole Books. p. 68. ISBN 0811726711.
- ↑ Cartmell, Robert (1987). The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster. Popular Press. p. 218. ISBN 0879723424.
- ↑ "Carrousels". Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.