Trolley park
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.[1]
In Britain, a "trolley park" is a holding area for supermarket trolleys (called shopping carts in the U.S.).The parks originally consisted of picnic groves and pavilions, and often held events such as dances, concerts and fireworks. Many eventually added features such as swimming pools, carousels, Ferris wheels, roller coasters, sports fields, boats rides, restaurants and other resort facilities to become amusement parks. Various sources report the existence of between 1,500 and 2,000 amusement parks in the United States by 1919.[2]
Coney Island[edit]
One such location was Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City, where a horse-drawn streetcar line brought pleasure seekers to the beach beginning in 1829. In 1875, a million passengers rode the railroad to Coney Island, and in 1876 two million reached Coney Island. Hotels and amusements were built to accommodate both the upper-classes and the working-class. The first carousel was installed in the 1870s, the first Switchback Railway in 1881. It wasn't until 1895 that the first permanent amusement park in North America opened: Sea Lion Park at Coney Island. This park was one of the first to charge admission for entrance to the park in addition to selling tickets for rides within the park.[2]
In 1897, it was joined by Steeplechase Park, the first of three major amusement parks that would open in the area. George Tilyou designed the park to provide thrills and sweep away the restraints of the Victorian crowds. The combination of the nearby population center of New York City and the ease of access to the area made Coney Island the embodiment of the American amusement park.[2] In addition there was Luna Park (opened in 1903) and Dreamland (opened in 1904). Coney Island was a huge success, and by 1910 attendance on a Sunday could reach a million people.[2]
Al Fresco Amusement Park,
Peoria, Illinois
Bay Shore Park, (Baltimore County), Maryland (near Baltimore, Maryland, 1906–1947; some structures remain in North Point State Park.)
Edgemere, Maryland
Minneapolis, Minnesota (1906–1911)
Big Island Amusement Park
Bonnie Brae Park,
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Burnham Park, (ca 1903 to 1916, relocated to Kishacoquillas Park)
Burnham, Pennsylvania
New Castle, Pennsylvania. (Originally opened as Brinton Park in 1891. Cascade Park opened in 1897. While the rides are gone, the park remains as a site for community events.)
Cascade Park
C&ST Trolley Park (1911–1914) The site is now owned by the Cook County (IL) Forest Preserve District in use as a picnic grove.
Blue Island, IL
Crescent Park,
Riverside, Rhode Island
Dixieland Amusement Park, South Jacksonville (), Florida. (South Jacksonville Municipal Railways; destroyed in a hail storm.)
Jacksonville
Montreal, Canada (1906–1937; Montreal Suburban Tramway and Power company, precursor to today's publicly owned transit commission.)
Dominion Park
(1906–1928)
Electric Park, Detroit
Electric Park, (1901–1917; Albany and Hudson Railroad; “largest amusement park on the east coast between Manhattan and Montreal”)[14]
Niverville, New York
Euclid, Ohio, then Cleveland, Ohio (1895—1969): When first opened, visitors came to the park on two steamers from downtown Cleveland. When the Humphrey Family took over direction of the park they agreed to discontinue boat service in return for one street car fare charge to the park from the provider. Initially a street car stop was built inside the park. (Euclid Beach Park, is Closed for the Season, 1977)
Euclid Beach Park
(1889–1932)
Forest Hill Park, Richmond, Virginia
Ballston Lake, New York (1902–1927; operated by the Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad)[15]
Forest Park
Golden Spur Amusement Park, (operated by New London and East Lyme Street Railway)
Niantic, Connecticut
Kishacoquillas Park, between and Lewistown, Pennsylvania (relocated from Burnham Park in 1916; property and some structures survive as community park.)
Burnham, Pennsylvania
Lake Lansing Amusement Park, (demolished 1972)
Haslett, Michigan
Lakeview Park (Lake Nipmuc Amusement Park),
Mendon, Massachusetts
Manawa Park, (closed in 1928)
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Oakland Park, (1902–?)
Rockport, Maine
Piney Ridge Park, , Connecticut (located on a branch of the Hartford & Springfield Street Railway, now along the line of the Connecticut Trolley Museum)
Broad Brook
Riverhurst Park,
Weston Mills, New York
Rock City Park,
Allegany, New York
near Moosic, Pennsylvania (later became Ghost Town at the Glen before becoming New Rocky Glen)
Rocky Glen Park
Terrapin Park,
Parkersburg, West Virginia
Vanity Fair,
East Providence, Rhode Island
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania (1896–1976; now the Willow Grove Park Mall, but still has a carousel inside the shopping mall.)
Willow Grove Park
—a trolley museum that, at its original location, was called the "Trolley Park"
Oregon Electric Railway Museum
. Transit Journal. 17 (5): 186. February 2, 1901.