White City (amusement parks)

Last updated

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 (including those to be named White City, Luna Park, and Electric Park) ensued in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Contents

Like their Luna Park and Electric Park cousins, a typical White City park featured a shoot-the-chutes and lagoon, a roller coaster (usually a figure eight or a mountain railway), a midway, a Ferris wheel, games, and a pavilion. Some White City parks featured miniature railroads. Many cities had two (or all three) of the Electric Park/Luna Park/White City triumvirate in their vicinity... with each trying to outdo the others with new attractions. The competition was fierce, often driving the electric parks out of business due to increased cost due to equipment upgrades and upkeep and increasing insurance costs. More than a few succumbed to fire. Only one park that was given the White City name continues to operate today: Lakeside Amusement Park, opened in 1908, was originally advertised and known as Denver's White City.

Origin

White City of the World's Columbian Exposition (1893) World Columbian Exposition - White City - 1.JPG
White City of the World's Columbian Exposition (1893)

The enormously successful 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago attracted 26 million visitors and featured a section that is now commonly considered the first amusement park: a midway (the mile-long Midway Plaisance), the world's first Ferris wheel (constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.), a forerunner of the modern roller coaster (Thomas Rankin's Snow and Ice Railway, later moved to Coney Island), [1] lighting and attractions powered by alternating current (Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti had completed the first power plant with AC power in London just the year before), and the debut of several kinds of foods in the United States, including hamburgers, shredded wheat, Cracker Jack, Juicy Fruit chewing gum, and pancakes made using Aunt Jemima pancake mix. The Zoopraxographical Hall was the first commercial theater. [2] Ragtime composed and performed by Scott Joplin exposed millions of people to a new form of music and instantly became a staple for fairs and carnivals. [3]

Ferris wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition. White City can be seen behind it and to the right. Ferris-wheel.jpg
Ferris wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition. White City can be seen behind it and to the right.

While the Midway Plaisance became the Exposition's main drawing card, it was not the primary purpose of the World's Fair in the eyes of its founders, who pictured it to be the beginning of a classical renaissance featuring electrically-lit white stucco buildings (collectively known as White City) occupying the main court. While White City gave the park its visual identity, the throngs who attended the Columbian Exposition tended to collect at the Midway Plaisance (and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, which set up shop just outside the park grounds after the fair's founders rejected Buffalo Bill Cody's attempt to become an official Columbian Exhibition exhibitor). [1] The World's Fair was destined to be remembered primarily for two ironic visions, that of the crowds at the Midway Plaisance (which essentially was the first modern amusement park with its entertainment, including exhibitions of boxer John L. Sullivan and exotic dancer Little Egypt, its games and its rides) and the architecture of the (far less popular) White City. Much of the Midway Plaisance reappeared in Coney Island's Steeplechase Park by the end of 1897 (but not the Ferris wheel, which had been committed to the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis: a smaller version was built and installed in Paul Boyton's Steeplechase Park instead... along with a sign that stated "On this site will be erected the world's largest Ferris Wheel"). [1]

While Steeplechase Park eventually became one of the earliest embodiments of an amusement park, Chicago had one to replace Midway Plaisance a year after the close of the Columbian Exposition, Paul Boyton's Water Chutes, featuring a shoot-the-chutes ride that wasn't present in the Columbian Exposition, but would soon become a staple of amusement parks to come. [4] Paul Boyton's Water Chutes was the first amusement to charge admission when it opened in 1894; inspired by the immediate success of his Chicago park (500,000 people visiting it in its first year of operation), he moved (and expanded) Water Chutes in 1896, a year after he started the similar Sea Lion Park in Coney Island. [5]

Foretelling a fate similar to most amusement parks that followed, Paul Boyton's Water Chutes went out of business in 1908, [5] in the face of increasing competition, mainly exhibition parks inspired by the Columbian Exposition in Chicago ("White City") and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo ("Luna Park") and the emergence of trolley parks owned and operated by railroads and electric companies ("Electric Park"). In 1901, Boyton sold Sea Lion Park to Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, who operated "A Trip to the Moon" in both Buffalo and Steeplechase Park. Thompson and Dundy quickly redesigned Sea Lion Park and redubbed it Luna Park, which quickly added to the legend of Coney Island. [5]

White City parks and the amusement park boom

Postcard view of Chicago's White City amusement park. The 300-foot-tall Electric Tower was one of the highlights of "the city of a million electric lights" that could be seen from 15 miles away. White City Chicago Electric Tower 1908.jpg
Postcard view of Chicago's White City amusement park. The 300-foot-tall Electric Tower was one of the highlights of "the city of a million electric lights" that could be seen from 15 miles away.

In the half decade after the end of the Columbian Exposition, the American concept of the amusement park was starting to take hold, with the increased popularity of shoot-the-chutes rides, roller coasters (with roller coaster designer and entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll providing many parks - many of long standing - with figure 8 roller coasters and scenic railways long before starting his Luna Park chain in 1905) were being erected in a frenetic pace (over a quarter century period, the Ingersoll Construction Company, erected more than eleven roller coasters per year). [1] Railway companies, noticing the popularity of Midway Plaisance of the Columbian Exposition and the lack of railroad ridership on the weekends, constructed trolley parks as an effort to improve their bottom line. Power companies were starting to partner with railroad companies to create electric trolley companies... and construct Electric Parks. [6]

As the end of the 19th century approached, a few exhibition parks - those inspired by the exhibits and midways of either the Columbian Exposition or the (later) Pan-American Exposition - started to appear. Before the end of the year 1900, White City amusement parks were making their appearance in Philadelphia (1898 - it was also known as Chestnut Hill Park) and Cleveland (1900). Soon, some long-established parks changed their names to White City upon the addition of amusement rides and a midway (Seattle, for example). As the American amusement park was increasing in popularity in the first few years of the 1900s, the success of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition (particularly its "Trip to the Moon" ride, featuring "Luna Park") led to the first Luna Park in Coney Island in 1903... and an explosion of nearly identical amusement parks soon followed. There were roughly 250 amusements operating in the United States in 1899; the number almost tripled (700) by 1905; and more than doubled again (to 1500) by 1919 - and these latter figures do not include the amusement parks that were opened and permanently closed by then. [5]

While the White City in Chicago was not the first one of that name, it was certainly one of the most fondly remembered. Within years of its 1905 founding, dozens of White City parks dotted the United States (with Australia and the United Kingdom having namesakes built by the 1910s). Although most White City parks were out of business by the end of the United States involvement in World War I, a few survived into the middle third of the 20th century. The Chicago White City lasted until 1946; the Worcester park survived until 1960. Of the White City amusement parks, only one survives, the last exhibition park still standing: Lakeside Amusement Park. [5] Built and opened in 1908 just outside the Denver, Colorado city limits, Lakeside Park was advertised as "Denver's White City" and "The Coney Island of the West" from its inception throughout the 1910s. [7] Although the official use of the White City moniker was largely discontinued by the 1920s, members of the local populace continued to refer to the park as "White City," and a number of the park's 1908 structures and attractions remain.

List of White City amusement parks

The following is a list of amusement parks that have had the name White City in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

United States

Postcard view of Cleveland's White City amusement park, one of several amusement parks operating in the Ohio city in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. WhiteCity Cleveland.jpg
Postcard view of Cleveland's White City amusement park, one of several amusement parks operating in the Ohio city in the first decade of the Twentieth Century.

Britain, Canada, and Australia

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amusement park</span> Park with rides and attractions

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trolley park</span> Amusement park prototype

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903)</span> Former amusement park in Brooklyn, New York

Luna Park was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1903 to 1944. The park was located on a site bounded by Surf Avenue to the south, West 8th Street to the east, Neptune Avenue to the north, and West 12th Street to the west. Luna Park was located partly on the grounds of the small park it replaced, Sea Lion Park, which operated between 1895 and 1902. It was the second of the three original, very large, iconic parks built on Coney Island; the others were Steeplechase Park and Dreamland. At Coney Island's peak in the middle of the 20th century's first decade, the three amusement parks competed with each other and with many independent amusements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steeplechase Park</span> Former amusement park in New York City

Steeplechase Park was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1897 to 1964. Steeplechase Park was created by the entrepreneur George C. Tilyou as the first of the three large amusement parks built on Coney Island, the other two being Luna Park (1903) and Dreamland (1904). Of the three, Steeplechase was the longest-lasting, running for 67 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luna Park</span> Name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks

Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-scale attraction parks, easily accessed, potentially addressed to the permanent or temporary residential market, and located in the suburbs or even near the town center. Luna parks mainly offer classic funfair attractions, newer features and catering services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakeside Amusement Park</span> Amusement park in Lakeside, Colorado

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midway Plaisance</span> United States historic place

The Midway Plaisance, known locally as the Midway, is a public park on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its west end and Jackson Park at its east end. It divides the Hyde Park community area to the north from the Woodlawn community area to the south. Near Lake Michigan, the Midway is about 6 miles (10 km) south of the downtown "Loop". The University of Chicago was founded just north of the park, and university buildings now front the Midway to the south, as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coney Island Cyclone</span> Wooden roller coaster at Luna Park

The Cyclone, also called the Coney Island Cyclone, is a wooden roller coaster at Luna Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Designed by Vernon Keenan, it opened to the public on June 26, 1927. The roller coaster is on a plot of land at the intersection of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street. The Cyclone reaches a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) and has a total track length of 2,640 feet (800 m), with a maximum height of 85 feet (26 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Boyton</span>

Paul Boyton, known as the Fearless Frogman, was a showman and adventurer some credit as having spurred worldwide interest in water sports as a hobby, particularly open-water swimming. Boyton, whose birthplace is variously listed as Dublin or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is best known for his water stunts that captivated the world, including crossing the English Channel in a novel rubber suit that functioned similarly to a kayak. As the founder of Sea Lion Park in 1895, Boyton is also known as the originator of the first modern amusement park with a fenced-in enclosure and admission charged at the gate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea Lion Park</span> Former American amusement park

Sea Lion Park was a 16-acre (65,000 m2) amusement park started in 1895 on Coney Island by Paul Boyton. He fenced the property and charged admission, the park becoming the first enclosed and permanent amusement park in North America. Up until the establishment of this park, amusement areas around the country consisted of pay-as-you-go concessions. In 1903, Sea Lion Park was replaced by Luna Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luna Park, Cleveland</span> Former amusement park in Cleveland, Ohio

Luna Park was a trolley park in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1905 to 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White City (Chicago)</span> Defunct amusement park in Chicago

White City was a recreational area located in the Greater Grand Crossing and Woodlawn community areas on the south side of Chicago from 1905 until the 1950s. At the time of its opening, on May 26, 1905, it was claimed to be the largest park of its type in the United States. It contributed to Chicago's status as the city with the most amusement parks in the United States until 1908. It eventually introduced the world to the Goodyear Blimp, which was first assembled at the park.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric Park, Kansas City</span>

Electric Park was the name shared by two amusement parks in Kansas City, Missouri, US, that were constructed by Joseph Heim and his brothers Michael and Ferdinand Jr. and run by them. The first was built next to the Heim Beer brewery in 1899; the second, a larger one, was built and opened for the public in 1907 and remained in operation until the end of the 1925 season. Animator and entrepreneur Walt Disney cited the second Kansas City Electric Park as his primary inspiration for the design of the first modern theme park, Disneyland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White City (Indianapolis)</span>

White City was an amusement park in Indianapolis, Indiana, in what is now Broad Ripple Park that was in operation from May 26, 1906, until June 26, 1908. The trolley park was constructed and owned by the Broad Ripple Transit Company. Similar to nearby rivals Riverside Amusement Park and Wonderland, White City was inspired by an exhibit in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Although the park's grand opening was immensely successful, White City's existence was the briefest of the three, having been open for two and one-half seasons before burning to the ground. Throughout the park's existence, advertisements touted White City as "the amusement park that satisfied".

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.

Coney Island is a 1991 documentary film that traces the history of Coney Island, the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, New York. The film covers the island's 1609 discovery by Henry Hudson, its 1870s incarnation as a respectable beach destination for city-dwellers and a showcase of the new developments ushered in by the machine age, the early 20th century, when amusement parks and innovative attractions attracted hundreds of thousands of people each day, and the gradual demise of the amusements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort George Amusement Park</span> Former amusement park in New York City

Fort George Amusement Park was a trolley park and amusement park that operated in the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan, New York City, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It occupied an area between 190th and 192nd Streets east of Amsterdam Avenue, within present-day Highbridge Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederic Thompson</span> American architect

Frederic Williams Thompson was an American architect, engineer, inventor, and showman known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Tilyou</span> American entrepreneur and showman who founded New York Citys Steeplechase Park

George Cornelius Tilyou (1862–1914) was an American entrepreneur and showman who founded New York City's Steeplechase Park. Born in New York City, his parents had operated businesses in Coney Island from his early childhood. He founded Steeplechase in 1897, and rebuilt it entirely after a 1907 fire. Tilyou died in 1914, leaving the park to his children, who continued to operate it until 1964.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Robert Cartmell, The American Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster (Popular Press 1987) ISBN   0-87972-342-4
  2. Clegg, Brian (2007). The Man Who Stopped Time. Joseph Henry Press. ISBN   978-0-309-10112-7.
  3. Richard Crawford, America's Musical Life: A History (W. W. Norton & Company 2001) ISBN   0-393-04810-1
  4. Jim Futrell, Amusement Parks of New Jersey (Stackpole Books 2004) ISBN   0-8117-2973-7
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jim Futrell, Amusement Parks of New York (Stackpole Books 2006) ISBN   0-8117-3262-2
  6. 1 2 Dale Samuelson, AJP Samuelson, and Wendy Yegoiants, The American Amusement Park (MBI Publishing Company 2001) ISBN   0-7603-0981-7
  7. "Jefferson County, Colorado Genealogy and History - presented by Genealogy Trails History Group".
  8. Residents sought weekend solace at parks - Bellingham Herald, 20 October 2003
  9. Ed Aswad and Suzanne M. Meredith, Broome County in Vintage Postcards (Arcadia Publishing 2000) ISBN   0-7385-0447-5
  10. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
  11. Diane DeMali Francis, Ohio's Amusement Parks in Vintage Postcards (Arcadia Publishing 2002) ISBN   0-7385-1997-9
  12. History of Island MetroPark
  13. Southwest Ohio Amusement Park Historical Society: White City
  14. "Vertical Files". Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives. 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  15. J'Nell L. Pate, North of the River: A Brief History of North Fort Worth (TCU Press 1994) ISBN   0-87565-133-X
  16. Arthur W. Thurner, Strangers and Sojourners: A History of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula (Wayne State University Press 1994) ISBN   0-8143-2396-0
  17. David J. Bodenhamer and Robert Graham Barrows, The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (Indiana University Press 1994) ISBN   0-253-31222-1
  18. University of Louisville Libraries: Digital Collections
  19. David R. Contosta, Suburb in the City: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 1850-1990 (Ohio State University Press 1992) ISBN   0-8142-0580-1
  20. Rachel Hildebrandt, The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer (Arcadia Publishing 2009) ISBN   0-7385-6297-1
  21. Queenie the elephant causes pandemonium at Seattle's White City amusement park on May 28, 1909
  22. Playland -- Seattle's Amusement Park (1930-1961) - historylink.org
  23. Historical Postcards of Springfield, Missouri
  24. Rusty D. Aton, Baseball in Springfield (Arcadia Publishing 2005) ISBN   0-7385-3359-9
  25. Hamilton/Trenton Marsh
  26. Pictures of White City Park - Amusement Park Nostalgia
  27. Andrew Horrall, Popular Culture in London c. 1890-1918: The Transformation of Entertainment (Manchester University Press 2001) ISBN   0-7190-5783-3
  28. Simon Inglis, Played in Manchester: The Architectural Heritage of a City at Play (English Heritage 2004) ISBN   1-873592-78-7
  29. History of White City (Manchester)
  30. Remembering White City: But a stone's throw from Old Trafford a White City once stood - betfair.com
  31. White City Tennis Club page
  32. White City Blue - Sydney Morning Herald, 15 December 2003
  33. "Lost Sydney: White City Amusement Park". www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au. Retrieved 2022-01-05.

See also