Old abandoned amusement parks.

[Longgrain]

This stands not far from where I live...



It's Whalom Park in Lunenburg, MA.

It closed in 2000. Some effort had been taken to restore it, but most of the rides have already been sold and what remains has been left to decay.

A little further away, but one I remember as a kid was Mountain Park in Holyoke, MA...

http://www.defunctparks.com/parks/MA/mountain/mountainpark.htm

It closed in 1987 but bits and pieces of it still remain.

Here's a recent pic taken less than a month ago...



Not much left...

Anyone else know of any other old abandoned amusment parks you use to go to as a kid, but are no longer there?

Here's a good resourse to get you started...

http://www.defunctparks.com/

[trof]

1. No shit? Whalom Park closed?

Damn. Used to take our little girl and friends there.
:-(

[Longgrain]

3. Yeah it's been closed for a while.

http://www.savewhalompark.com/

The save Whalom efforts didn't seem to work.

First they sold the carousel to raise funds, then the individual rides.

I haven't been inside the park since it closed, but from the outside it's beginning to look pretty decrepid...

[flamingyouth]

2. What a cool site

Bitter Lake (Seattle) was on its last legs when I was a kid; it had been Playland until it burned down in the '60s.

I could spend hours looking at sites like this. I also like www.deadmalls.com for some odd reason.

[Longgrain]

9. Here's an odd-ball one I like

There also a site out there about "urban ruins" if I can find it...

http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/60sdiscountstores/index.html

[flamingyouth]

14. Oh, right on - bookmarked

Thanks - these are all great sites! :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

49. I like dead malls too. I can't believe PennCan in NY closed. It was

brand new when we moved there in the seventies. Sad.

[LiberalSoutherner]

4. Lincoln Park

There is an old amusement park near where I grew up called Lincoln Park on the lakefront in New Orleans. It was the black only park during the Jim Crow years, after desegregation, the blacks all went to the formerly white only park Pontchartrain Beach, and it quickly closed down. When I was a teenager, we loved to go out there and just hang out. It was like the world would be like after Armageddon. Decaying buildings, overgrown gardens, etc. Now the entrances are sealed up, and you cant get in.

[McKenzie]

5. lost destinations...

thanks for the link...I like this sort of stuff...bookmarked.

Here's another with loads of different building types. A bit gothy but the pics are damned fine.



http://www.lostdestinations.com/

[Beware the Beast Man]

6. Another link if you like abandoned building photography:

http://www.ohiotrespassers.com/title.html

Cool stuff on here, and a bit creepy. It's mostly abandoned hospitals, TB wards and insane asylums.

[McKenzie]

12. bookmarked that one too...thanks n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Dogpatch USA

was opened in NW AR in the '60s, and operated into the 90's. It is in pretty delapitated, and people have taken to stealing parts and pieces of it. Saddest thing is that the little town where it is located were conned into changing their name to Dogpatch and are apparently stuck with the name unless they pass a bond issue that would clean up the sewer problems at the abandoned park. Most folks just list their town with the old name, Marble Falls. The zip code is the same, and the post office will still deliver mail as long as the zip code is on the letter.

[City of Mills]

8. I remember hearing the Whalom Park commercials

I would go there probably every other year or so, we always had Canobie Lake Park in Salem NH that was a bit closer.

[Longgrain]

10. Yep, I remeber...

"Whalom Park! For a whale of a time!"

Conobie's still there tho, and still holding it's own against the big guys.

[izzie]

20. We all used to go here, Small but nice

Have not gone and done this in years. Used to take my granddaughter to Story land in NH. That is small but enough to ware out grandmothers.

[City of Mills]

24. Storyland's a classic

I loved that place as a kid...I have a seasonal camp about 1/4 mile from Santa's Village in Jefferson. Can't wait to have kids to take there :)

I just remembered one - Benson's Animal Park in Hudson NH. Don't remember when it closed, but I lived down the street from it and it just became mostly overgrown. Several of the booths are still standing. There's new construction all over the area but I don't think they can build over it because it is mostly a wetlands area.

[Longgrain]

37. Benson's?

Did, you mentioned Benson's? No way.

Tried goggling it but so far next to nothing.

Used to go there all the time. It was a bit of an amusement park too, from what I remember, lots of rides and games among the animals.

We still have about a mile of old super eight film from when I was a kid of Benson's.

BTW Don't remember it myself, but my mother swears there was a park called Pleasure Island, I'm not sure where, but closer to Boston. It had an old Cape Cod/ seaport theme. The big ride was a boat ride around the lake where a mechanical whale would burst out of the water and attack the boat. This was around the mid 50s or early 60s...don't know much about the place...Longgrain's mommy hadn't even gotten a training bra yet...

[Catchawave]

11. the cyclone, coney island?

still standing though, and basically all that's left from my childhood in Brooklyn :(

Also found out that Donald Trump's DAD was the a'hole responsible for leveling the Steeplchase Park there. What a shame.

[Longgrain]

13. Never been to Coney island

But isn't the famous "Parachute Jump" tower still standing?

I remember seeing a show a few years ago about Coney island and they showed the tower.

[Catchawave]

23. Oh the history :)

I was there last summer with my daughter, rode the old cyclone about ten times and I did see the Parachute tower, but it was a monument not a ride :( Lots of "carney" stuff still there, and the beautiful boardwalk and beach, but this is what I remember....such a loss:
http://history.amusement-parks.com/steeplechase.htm

[bettyellen]

59. the parachute jump is still there. a friend pointed it out when we were

at Sandy Hook beach in New Jersey - it's way across Ny Harbour, and the jump was the only landmark you could make out from Brooklyn.
Now I have to go look for Rockaway Playland !

[skygazer]

15. They look so lonely

I never went to Whalom Park but we used to go to Mountain Park all the time when I was a teenager. They had a halfway decent roller coaster and a ride with these flying airplanes that would swing so close to the surrounding trees, it looked like you were going to crash right into them. It was a happening place back in the late 70's. :cry: Just looks sad and lonely now.

I used to live in Pawtucket, RI and Narragansett Park which was a very important thoroughbred track was near there. It had been closed down for years and was being used as a flea market. Always made me feel sad. I used to read about races run there and it just looked like a forgotten place.

[Longgrain]

17. Here's another one.

http://www.angelfire.com/ne2/mtpark/mtpark.html

Just a tyke myself when Mountain Park was still around...

Anyone else remember the Dinosaur Den.

[Lady Effingbroke]

16. Here's another site you can get lost on for hours...

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/

Amazingly comprehensive site about New York, broken down into categories - old street signs, subway cars/lines, cemeteries, etc.

[Longgrain]

22. Awesome...

Definitely one I'm going to have to bookmark.

[frictionlessO]

18. kicked b/c the sites are awesome in this thread! thank you!!

[Longgrain]

19. Off topic...

Looks like I just turned 350!

Half way to the dreaded 700 club for me...

[Left Is Write]

21. It's kind of sad.

The one I remember from childhood is Excelsior Park in the Minneapolis area.

[Lady Effingbroke]

25. Another site - "Modern Ruins"

http://www.deathrock.net/ariadne/ruins.html

[Longgrain]

26. Yep...

That's the one I was thinking of.

[bettyellen]

61. whoa , i just say this hospital i visited as a four year old.

that kind of freaked me out. my brother spent a lot of time there.

[Lady Effingbroke]

27. More sites!

http://release-me.net/abandoned.html

http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/abandonedbuildingslinks.htm

http://www.infiltration.org/resources-ohio.html

http://sbno.illicitohio.com

[Longgrain]

28. Looks like I'm going to have to book mark this entire thread! N/T

[Lady Effingbroke]

29. Yeah - I made a separate folder in my favorites for all these sites!

Speaking of which...

http://oboylephoto.com/ruins - professional photographic essays!

http://www.modern-ruins.com this site is absolutely awesome but you need Quicktime (or equivalent) - 360° pans of abandoned sites.

One more...

http://www.xydexx.com/modernruins/

[Longgrain]

30. Here's a couple more form Mountain Park

in Holyoke.

This was a dark ride called the Dinosaur Den, on of my faves as a kid, from the site I linked above...



Notice the support in the center?

When I went back to the site about a year ago, I found this hiding beneath the bushes...



Look familiar?

[Lady Effingbroke]

33. Wow, you got inside the park site and took pictures? Very cool!

I live in Houston, and there ain't much "old" around - 75% of this town sprawled straight out of the swamp since the end of WWII (and the advent of mass A/C use).

I did attend community college across the street from a subdivision which was built on a Superfund site (Brio). At the time (1988-90) the neighborhood was still in use - probably a couple thousand houses, local elementary school, neighborhood swimming pool, etc. Sometime in the mid 90s, the government began to settle with the people living in the neighborhood and buy out their houses. Towards the end, there were maybe one or two families per block - all the other houses were abandoned. It was eerie to drive through blocks of abandoned houses. After the last family left, they fenced off the entrances and bulldozed the entire place - it's pretty much back to nature now.

The college is still in operation - I have several friends who are attending.

[Longgrain]

34. It's not really blocked off

But it's kind of hard to find.

There's a reservoir not far away, with a few nature paths, and lots of people go out their to take walks.

It's just kind of 'there' if you find it...

Here's another one, the miniature golf course...

[Lady Effingbroke]

36. Very nice pictures! What a beautiful area of the country you live in.

:)

[Longgrain]

38. New England

Massachusetts to be specific, but I'm pushed up close to the NH border. The first one in the previous post is not mine, all the other one's I posted were done by me.

Of topic: I have a few more picture posted down in the photography group and over in the MA state forums if anyone's interested...

[Lady Effingbroke]

39. Thanks, I'll have to check it out!

[SmokingJacket]

31. You guys would LOVE the mag Weird New Jersey

It's full of abandonded amusement parks and mental hospitals, and stories of local characters and legends. I'm not even from NJ and I love it.

And the same guys came out with a great book -- for those of you buying Christmas presents -- called Weird US. It's great: lots of local color from around the US. Check it out at B&N.

[genieroze]

44. I love that mag.

[Piperay]

32. POP... Pacific Ocean Park

in Santa Monica was like that, it was built to be competition for Disneyland and some of the same people designed it. POP died a slow death over time, was abandoned and sat there for years, finally it was demolished completely. :cry:

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/venice/articles/pop.htm

[Kellanved]

35. Spreepark - the old GDR East-Berlin Park

Went under in 2001 due to mismanagement. The operator tried to use the park to smuggle cocaine, but was caught...


















As it used to be:

:-(

[Lady Effingbroke]

40. Great pictures, Kellanved! I especially like the sepia ones (I think that

is the correct term?).

[Kellanved]

42. the only ones I was able to find online

I'll have to go there with a camera one day. The roller coasters are far more interesting...


Edit: thanks, but they are not mine ;-) . The sepia(?) ones were taken from here: http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/24858

[Lady Effingbroke]

45. Thanks for the link!

:)

[Longgrain]

53. never seen those before

They are incledible....

[Kellanved]

62. well

Sadly most pictures appear to be no longer online; there used to be current pictures of almost all attractions.

For some reason the official homepage is still online though:
http://www.spreepark.de

If you think big multiple looping roller coasters are scary, then you should try a soviet-made one...


http://www.spreepark.de/spreepark/bilder_bestandteil_spreepark/video_vorschau/bobbahn.zip

[arwalden]

41. I Recall One In Norfolk VA...

Oceanview Amusement Park ... they filmed a movie there before it was permanently closed.

[Lady Effingbroke]

43. Nice! I love black and white photography!

:thumbsup:

[PartyPooper]

50. I have lots of good memories of that place as a kid in the 1950's.

:cry:

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

52. I went there as a kid. Buckroe Beach in Hampton, VA had one, too, we

used to go to also. I think it was Buckroe that had the sky rides or ski lift thingees (like what they have at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA).

[Buns_of_Fire]

57. My parents used to take me to that park

We lived within walking distance. I don't remember the sky lifts, but then, I was barely tall enough to reach the skee-ball machines. To this day, though, I remember the neon clowns rolling their neon ball back and forth above the main entrance.

Buckroe Beach Amusement Park, R.I.P. 1985. :cry:

[Catchawave]

66. It was a happenin' place in the 60's !

And yes, they blew up the rollercoaster for a movie called, I think, "Rollercoaster" ? It was a murder mystery sort of B-flick.

Today, for a million bucks, you can own a lovely home in Pinewell-By-The-Bay, which is located on the old park site.

[Longgrain]

46. Another...

sit, if you're interested in old amusement parks...

http://www.laffinthedark.com/

Interesting to say the least...

[Lady Effingbroke]

47. Thanks - added to favorites!

[Longgrain]

48. Thanks...

There's another link I know of...If I can find it, I'll post it...

[ScreamingMeemie]

51. Great site on Boblo Island and other closed Canadian parks.

I'm sorry that my children will never be able to ride on the "Boblo Boat". :(

http://cec.chebucto.org/ClosPark/Boblo.html

[UpsideDownFlag]

54. great place to go get stoned.....nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

55. Marshall Hall

I loved to ride in the kiddie boats! But these were fun too:

And when I was about 3, I remember riding in a swan boat at Asbury Park, NJ...

[Longgrain]

56. Here's another one of Mountain Park...

as it stands today...



Somewhere beyond here once stood a Roller coaster.

[tyedyeto]

58. Playland in SF

Remember it from looooooooooooong ago...sigh

[Buns_of_Fire]

60. Slightly off-topic, but since we're feeling nostalgic...

Please join me in a moment of silence for the not-so-dearly departed Gobbler Motel & Supper Club (the world's tackiest motel).

http://www.lileks.com/institute/motel/gob1.html

http://gobblermotel.blogspot.com/

[Dora]

63. Legend City, Phoenix, AZ

I used to love going to Legend City. When it finally closed in the early-mid 80's, it sat empty for a long and weedy time, then it was torn down to make way for road construction and office development.

I'm sure it was a crappy park if compared to other amusement parks. But it was what we had.

[Catchawave]

64. Definitely a bygone era when life was much simpler...

...I guess these little happy places just couldn't keep up with the liability insurance or the MONSTER theme parks squeezed them out of business.

I often wonder if this is progress?

[underpants]

65. R'uh R'oh -Yeah I have that strange feeling too Scoby

:bounce: