 White City in 1908. The colossal figure of "King Dodo" guards the entrance to the fun house. | |
| Location | Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°16′23.42″N71°45′8.89″W / 42.2731722°N 71.7524694°W |
| Status | Closed |
| Opened | 1905 |
| Closed | September 5, 1960 |
White City was an amusement park located in Shrewsbury, a suburb of Worcester, Massachusetts. It bordered Lake Quinsigamond and ran from 1905 to 1960.
White City was founded by local businessman Horace H. Bigelow. The park opened on June 18, 1905 and was open for 55 seasons, closing for the last time on September 5, 1960. Its lifespan was atypical of American amusement parks of its day (most of which were short-lived, failing to survive past the onset of World War I). Like many such parks, White City was a trolley park, built at the end of a trolley line to increase ridership on weekends.
White City bordered Lake Quinsigamond and included the waters of the lake in some its attractions, such as boat rides, the "Whirl of Air Ships" ride which swung patrons out over the water, and trained diving horses. White City's other attractions were typical of parks of this type: a midway, a fun house, a penny arcade, concession stands, rides, sideshow acts, a roller coaster. White City also included a roller-skating rink, a ballroom, and a stage where musical acts and, later, pop stars (Paul Anka, Jerry Vale, Edie Gorme) performed.
The park's original roller coaster opened in 1914. . It was replaced by a world-class (at the time) coaster, the Zip, in 1928. The Zip, designed by Herbert Schenck, remained in service until the park's closing, although it was later renamed the Cyclone and later still the Yankee Clipper.
An early White City tagline was "Land of Fifty Thousand Electric Lights", which is sometimes cited as the source of the park's name, along with the white color of its structures. Most likely, though, the park was named for the famous White City at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. "White City" was a popular name for amusement parks of the time, being borne by parks in Springfield (Missouri), Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New Haven, New Orleans, Syracuse (New York), London, Sydney, Melbourne, and other places as well.
Spag's discount department store, a regional fixture from 1934 to 2004, was located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of White City. After the park closed, the White City Plaza shopping center was built on part of the 18-acre (73,000 m2) site.
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.
Cedar Point is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point, which is owned and operated by Cedar Fair, is the flagship of the company's amusement park chain. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 16 roller coasters, which ranks third among amusement parks in North America behind Six Flags Magic Mountain (20) and Canada's Wonderland (18). One of Cedar Point's signature attractions, Steel Vengeance, opened as the tallest, fastest, and longest hybrid roller coaster in 2018.
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.
Lake Quinsigamond is a body of water situated between the city of Worcester and the town of Shrewsbury in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) long, between 50 and 85 feet deep, and has a surface area of approximately 772 acres (3.12 km2). Lake Quinsigamond hosts 8 islands with the majority owned by private citizens. Two islands are connected to land via bridge. The largest island, Drake Island, is still state owned. Water from the lake empties into the Quinsigamond River in the Blackstone Valley.
Lake Compounce is an amusement park located in Bristol and Southington, Connecticut. Opened in 1846, it is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. It spans 332 acres (134 ha), which includes a beach and a water park called Crocodile Cove included in the price of admission. The park was acquired from Kennywood Entertainment Company by Palace Entertainment, the U.S. subsidiary of Parques Reunidos. In addition to the 14th oldest wooden roller coaster in the world, Wildcat, its newer wooden roller coaster, Boulder Dash, has won the Golden Ticket Award for the #1 Wooden Coaster in the World for five consecutive years.
Six Flags New England, formerly known as Gallup's Grove (1870–1886), Riverside Grove (1887–1911), Riverside Park (1912–1995) and Riverside: The Great Escape (1996–2000), is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts. Opening in the late 19th century, it is the oldest amusement park in the Six Flags chain, acquired by Premier Parks in 1996 and rebranded Six Flags New England in 2000. Superman The Ride is among the park's most notable rides, having appeared as a highly ranked roller coaster in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today since the ride opened in 2000.
Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure is a water park and amusement park in Bessemer, Alabama. It is owned by Koch Family Parks, which consists of members of the family who formerly had minority ownership in Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.
Canobie Lake Park is an amusement park in Salem, New Hampshire, located about 31 miles (50 km) north of Boston. It was founded as a trolley park on the shore of Canobie Lake in 1902. Three local families currently run the park, which draws visitors from throughout the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. Canobie Lake Park's age and history inspired author Stephen King to use rides and elements from the park in his Joyland novel. It is one of only thirteen trolley parks still operating in the United States as of 2021.
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.
Seabreeze Amusement Park (Seabreeze) is a historic family amusement park located in Irondequoit, New York, a suburb of Rochester, where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario. According to the National Amusement Park Historical Association (NAPHA), Seabreeze is the fourth-oldest operating amusement park in the United States and the thirteenth-oldest operating amusement park in the world, having opened in 1879. The park features roller coasters, a variety of other rides, a midway, and a water park.
Excelsior Amusement Park was an amusement park on Lake Minnetonka in the town of Excelsior, Minnesota, United States. The park, which operated from 1925 to 1973, was a popular destination for company picnics and day trips from the Twin Cities.
Idora Park (1899–1984) was an amusement park in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, also known as "Youngstown's Million Dollar Playground."
Hopkins Rides is an amusement ride manufacturer based in Palm City, Florida. The company has had experience in amusement rides for over 45 years and currently specializes in water rides.
Quassy Amusement Park is an amusement and waterpark in Middlebury, Connecticut, and is one of only 11 trolley parks still operating in the United States. It has 20 rides on its 20 acres (81,000 m2). Quassy consists of a full-fledged amusement park plus a waterpark called Splash Away Bay. Swimming in Lake Quassapaug is available. In 1901, a writer pronounced Lake Quassapaug as "the handsomest bit of natural water on Earth". Today, beach clubs and houses surround the entire lake. The park is home to the award-winning Wooden Warrior roller coaster, which opened in 2011. Quassy offers swimming, picnicking, a catering service, an arcade, a waterpark, and live entertainment including school bands, dance groups and magic shows.
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.
Luna Park was an amusement park in the North Oakland neighborhood of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, from 1905 to 1909. Constructed and owned by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a 16 acre hilly site bounded on the south by Atlantic Avenue and on the west by North Craig Street, and included roller coasters, picnic pavilions, carousels, a fun house, a Ferris wheel, a roller rink, a shoot-the-chutes ride, a concert shell, a dance hall, bumper cars, and a baby incubator exhibit. In its brief existence, the park featured regular performances of bands, acrobatic acts, animal acts, horse riders, and aerial acts.
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.
Electric Park was a name shared by dozens of amusement parks in the United States that were constructed as trolley parks and owned by electric companies and streetcar companies. After 1903, the success of Coney Island inspired a proliferation of parks named Luna Park and Electric Park, while the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 inspired the formation of White City amusement parks at roughly the same time. The existence of most of these parks was generally brief: the bulk of them closed by 1917, the year of the United States' entry into World War I. Many pavilions have outlasted the parks themselves, with a few of them still standing today.
White City is the common name of dozens of amusement parks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Inspired by the White City and Midway Plaisance sections of the World's Columbian Exhibition of 1893, the parks started gaining in popularity in the last few years of the 19th century. After the 1901 Pan-American Exposition inspired the first Luna Park in Coney Island, a frenzy in building amusement parks ensued in the first two decades of the 20th century.
