Old Abandoned Amusement Park Photos.

[Longgrain]

For some reason, I love these old abandoned amusement parks, and have located a few of them in my travels...

This one's not far from where i live. Whalom Park in Lunenberg MA.



It's been closed for over 4 years now, but most of it still stands...



Another place I visited quite frequently is Mountain Park. The remains can be found somewhere in the woods on the outskirts of Holyoke, MA. It's been gone for almost twenty years now.

Twenty years ago this photo would have included a few buildings and a roller coaster...



There's not much left, but parts of the miniature golf course still remain...



Here's an interesting one from when the park was still open...



Here's one I took last fall...



Notice something familiar?

Here's a link if you want to find out more about Mountain Park...

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



If anyone else has any photos of amusement parks, opened or closed, I'd love to see them...

[Rocinante]

1. I like the old miniature golf photo

It's the best in the series, but that's just my opinon. :)

[Longgrain]

4. Hey Rocinante, thanks...

It's always good running into you...

These were all done with digital last summer when I was just learning how to use my camera...looks like I still have a lot to learn, but I'm getting there...

Here's another one from Whalom Park (the one in the first two photos)
right across the street from where I was standing besides the rollercoaster....



I think the water slide, on it's own, add to the spiraling composition...

[SiouxJ]

2. Very cool photos! I have a thing about old abandoned

gas stations. Actually, I have a thing about "Ruins" in general. I don't know why I find them so appealing but I do. I love the before and after shots you have at the end. Very interesting.

Out here in Arizona we have a lot of ghost towns that I've always wanted to go explore but it can be dangerous so you need to plan well - a good off road vehicle and emergency supplies. Also, you never know who you'll run into out there so you have to be careful. Someday I want to do it though. Talk about great subject matter for photography!

[Longgrain]

3. Thanks SiouxJ

I too have a thing for old buildings, factories, signs...

I posted this in the Lounge a couple months ago...I remembered to bookmark it because it's full of great links and photos...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2150654

Here's another comparison shot of Mountain Park from the above link...

This is an old dark ride called the Dinosaur Den, taken around 1986 (not my photo BTY)




Notice the support beam in the middle?

When I went back a few months ago I found this lying beneath a the bushes...



Notice any similarities?

[SiouxJ]

7. Very cool!

I can't believe that thing was held up by that! Not surprising it fell ;-) .

There's a great book I read, called "In Ruins" by Christopher Woodward. It's all about the author's fascination with ruins. Of course he covers ancient Roman ruins but also London after The Blitz and more contemporary things. There's a chapter on "Haunted Houses" (something that I've been fascinated with since I was a child) as well. It's illustrated so you get to see the character of what he's talking about. Anyway, it's a quick read and I enjoyed it.

[Touchdown]

5. I thought you might like these...

I have an old amusement park book written in 1978. It's basically rags now, but I can't let it go.

Both of those parks were open back then. Here's their pages...







There are literally dozens of parks that have long since closed all over the country. The earliest one I can remember is Fairyland in KC Mo. There's a freeway over the site now. :(

EDIT: I'm glad they can be read. I have no idea on PDFs, but I do know photo scanning.:dunce:

[Longgrain]

6. Awesome!

Thanks for taking the time to scan!

:hi:

[NJCher]

8. why are these photos intriguing?

Don't ever let that amusement park book go, touchdown! What a treat for us to see. I can envision using it. Flash forward to some of the abandoned amusement ride pictures.

Along the lines of abandoned ruins, I think old drive-in theatres are interesting to look at, too.

Why do you think this is such an interesting topic? Is it sort of like Ellis Island, where the emotions were so fervent that they still speak to us? Is it the contrast of the facility for "fun" and abandonment?

Here's a story about ruins, so to speak.

When I moved to this property 8 years ago, my neighbor down the mountain ruined, IMO, the view with this silly sculpture garden. I had a long expanse of clear that would have swept down the mountain save for this visual atrocity.

Well, the statues have started falling over. One has completely taken a dive. Now they look like "ruins" and I love them! The ruined view became ruins; made all the difference in the world.



Cher

[Bluebear]

9. I hope you don't mind me joining your group as a fan

I enjoy photography as art more than anything on canvass. These ruin photos are wonderful, they always make me feel wistful, sometimes sad...I picture in my mind the kids who enjoyed that mini golf or the swimmers long gone who were in that 'bath house'...Wonderful work.

[Longgrain]

10. Of course you're welcome

even if only as an appreciator. I'm merely a hobbyist photographer.

Look around some of these guys are real pros! :hi:

[intheflow]

11. Not an abandoned amusement park, but

these are from an abandoned boardwalk somewhere on the New England coast. (Maybe on the North Shore by the NH line?)





I used to go to Mtn. Park when I was a kid. Went with my camera a few years ago, couldn't get any shots. :shrug: You had much better luck. I like the mini-golf photo best.

Can't believe they closed Whalom Park! Went there when I was little, too! It's a crime to let that wooden coaster rot!

Stinkin' Six Flags ran 'em all into the ground. :cry:

[Longgrain]

12. Thanks Flow for showing these...

I have no Idea where you got them from (Hampton Beach Maybe)

I sympathize with our mutual loss of Mt. and Whalom...

Here a few more. I've been to Mt. Park so many times it's silly. It's just sort have become my spot of soul searching, since I visited it so much as a kid and now there's nothing left.

Here's the Golf sign again in spring...




Here's another one of Whalom and the old crumbling Roller coaster...



I hope someday someone will be kind enough to actually let me inside Whalom. From what I've seen from the outside, it's pretty sad looking...

[intheflow]

13. I like that golf photo even better!

Puts me in mind to steal my son's car for a day next time I go home and take a ride up to the park for a photoshoot. The carousel from Mtn Park is still up and running in Holyoke center, too. It'd be interesting to see the two juxtaposed, ruined park and preserved ride.

[Longgrain]

14. I believe this is all that's left of the former Carousel building.

It burnt down in 2001 or so. One of the last buildings standing before they all got bulldozed. :-(

[intheflow]

15. Makes me think

we ought to roadtrip to Whalom and hop the fence to get photos before it burns down. :(

[Longgrain]

16. Here you go.

Someone besides me knows how you feel...

http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/coaster/whalom.html

Google "Mountain Park Holyoke" or "Whalom Park" sometime if you're feeling nostalgic (or melancholy).

It looks like next chance I get, I'm going to have to take a ride out to Lunenburg.