I did too Joseph! What a great little park. Hey, I think you may be related to my wife. Her mother’s maiden name is Butler, and her mother grew up in Leominster. It’s a big gang all from that area.
Hi Arthur - I always enjoy your columns, but want to point out in your recent article that Lakeside Amusement Park is not a trolley park. I know its been included in other lists but it does not meet the qualifications. A trolley park is not an old amusement park or one one a trolley line but an amusement park where a trolley company built it or played a significant role in its development. Lakeside was developed by the Lakeside Realty and Amusement Company which was founded by brewer Adolph Zang for the specific purpose of building an amusement resort (and to sell his beer). Trolley parks were built to generate traffic on the trolley line, making money as an amusement resort was a secondary consideration. Lakeside was founded to make money as an amusement resort and according to David Fosyth's comprehensive history, the trolley was not extended to the park until the decision to build it was made by Zang. He further goes on to say that amusement park owners had to convince the trolley companies to extend the lines to their property. The park does however, play an irreplaceable role as the last example of an exposition park, an amusement park style created by Luna Park in Coney Island. In addition, another trolley park Bushkill Park in Easton, PA has reopened and is being restored after being closed for several years due to flooding.
Thanks for the info Jim. I am going to defer to you, since you are the expert when it comes to the history of parks. But the info I found (multiple sources) indicated that the park was founded by the Denver Tramway company, and that it was a trolley park. It could be a situation where somebody published the wrong information, and others kept repeating the error (including me!).
In the case of Lakeside, we have David Forsyth's book, which he originally wrote as a doctoral thesis, so I would trust his research and he was pretty clear that the only amusement facility Denver Tramways built was a ballfield. I have found other older amusement parks also called trolley parks like Lake Compounce. In their case, they were open 40 years before the trolley was even invented and ownership never changed even when the trolley was extended there.
My siblings, parents, grandparents and possibly great grandparents all enjoyed Whalom Park.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whalom_Park
I did too Joseph! What a great little park. Hey, I think you may be related to my wife. Her mother’s maiden name is Butler, and her mother grew up in Leominster. It’s a big gang all from that area.
Hi Arthur - I always enjoy your columns, but want to point out in your recent article that Lakeside Amusement Park is not a trolley park. I know its been included in other lists but it does not meet the qualifications. A trolley park is not an old amusement park or one one a trolley line but an amusement park where a trolley company built it or played a significant role in its development. Lakeside was developed by the Lakeside Realty and Amusement Company which was founded by brewer Adolph Zang for the specific purpose of building an amusement resort (and to sell his beer). Trolley parks were built to generate traffic on the trolley line, making money as an amusement resort was a secondary consideration. Lakeside was founded to make money as an amusement resort and according to David Fosyth's comprehensive history, the trolley was not extended to the park until the decision to build it was made by Zang. He further goes on to say that amusement park owners had to convince the trolley companies to extend the lines to their property. The park does however, play an irreplaceable role as the last example of an exposition park, an amusement park style created by Luna Park in Coney Island. In addition, another trolley park Bushkill Park in Easton, PA has reopened and is being restored after being closed for several years due to flooding.
Thanks for the info Jim. I am going to defer to you, since you are the expert when it comes to the history of parks. But the info I found (multiple sources) indicated that the park was founded by the Denver Tramway company, and that it was a trolley park. It could be a situation where somebody published the wrong information, and others kept repeating the error (including me!).
In the case of Lakeside, we have David Forsyth's book, which he originally wrote as a doctoral thesis, so I would trust his research and he was pretty clear that the only amusement facility Denver Tramways built was a ballfield. I have found other older amusement parks also called trolley parks like Lake Compounce. In their case, they were open 40 years before the trolley was even invented and ownership never changed even when the trolley was extended there.