Although for most of the 20th century amusement parks were a staple of American culture, the shine is definitely off the bumper car. Tons of new parks litter the country, but many of the old classics, unable to compete with the snazzy new parks, have been shut down. Most have been destroyed to make way for housing developments and malls, but a few still remain. Mostly forgotten and in total disrepair, these abandoned amusement parks are sometimes more interesting in their decay then they were while in operation.
But be warned urban explorer! Most of these parks are privately owned and do not appreciate people traipsing through their property, taking ridiculously cool pictures. If you get stopped by some authorities…just don’t tell them NileGuide sent you!
The Prehistoric Forest, Irish Hills, Michigan
Imagine Jurassic Park, but instead of real, blood-thirsty-Jeep-munching dinos you get dilapidated, stationary dinosaur statues situated around a mediocre community pool. It’s a wonder this park didn’t appeal to 21st century kiddies….
Opened in 1963, the park had a smoking volcano, waterfall, water slide, and 100 fiber glass dinosaurs sprinkled across the eight acre property. Since closing in 1999, the property has been on and off the market, all the while in complete disuse. As the years have gone by, the park continues to revert back to forest, and the dinosaur dioramas have begun to blend into the natural world.
If you should feel so inclined, The Prehistoric Forest is currently for sale for a cool $548,000 and, according to itsreal estate listing, the property has an arcade, gift shop, a 1200sq ft community shower building and could be used as a campground or day care…EEEEEEKK! Now that’s frightening. Better start exploring soon before this gem gets snatched off the market!
[All Dinosaur Images: RoadsideArchitecture via Debra Jane Seltzer]Six Flags, New Orleans
“Jazzland”, a New Orleans-themed park, was built on acres of swamp-land outside of the city in 2000, was purchased by Six Flags and changed names in 2002. During Hurricane Katrina, Six Flags was completely flooded and an estimated 70-80% of the park was destroyed, leaving it much too expensive to fix. The park has been slowly rotting, decaying, and sinking into the swamp for the past five years since disaster struck.
What’s extra eerie is the park features many miniatures of New Orleans itself, including a “Main Street” designed after the French Quarter and restaurants that are modeled after some of the city’s historic eateries. Like many of the buildings they are modeled after, many of the park’s structures were submerged in 7 feet of water for over a month, and now clearly display the ravages of the flood.
Image: Liquorhead/Flickr
Image: Liquorhead/FlickrAlthough this painful reminder of Katrina’s devastation is sitting in total disrepair, it seems like it might be that way for a while longer. Six Flags and the City of New Orleans are in a entangled legal battle over the land. If you want to visit, be careful – many urban explorers have been able to enter with no problems at all, while others have been handcuffed, driven off the premises, and had their camera film destroyed.
The Rocky Point Amusement Park, Warwick, Rhode Island
When it was built in 1847, Rocky Point was pretty much the neatest thing in all of Rhode Island. It had everything an East Coast Victorian family could want: a Ferris-wheel, picturesque water-front views, a classy dining hall, and a long pier perfect for strolling…ahh. And as far as amusement parks, Rocky Point lasted a pretty long time. It enjoyed continued popularity and was able to evolved with the times, that is until the early 1990s took their toll.
After some horrid (and possibly shady) investments that the park held went bankrupt, it could no longer continue operating under its investors’ heavy debts. The iconic “Rocky Point” gate closed for the last time in 1996. Since then, most of the rides have been removed and sold to other parks. The rest of the property has been left to disrepair, and has suffered two possible arson attacks. Although everything of “value” has been dispersed to needy amusement parks around the country, remnants of Rocky Point can still be seen.
Image: tmjeffers/FlickrDesperate to know more? Bellow is the trailer for Rocky Point documentary made a few years ago.
Lincoln Park, Dartmouth, Massachusetts
This park was originally opened by the Union Street Railway Company to increase tourism on their rail line in 1894. The park expanded over time, but its most popular attraction from 1946 on was “The Comet”, a wooden roller coaster. When it was built in the 40s, the coaster was the absolute bees knees. Passengers were even willing to carry sandbags to help the cars move along the track since the ride wasn’t “loose” enough to let gravity do the work. Although the coaster was the ultimate in cool, it also turned out to be deadly as well.
Image: artinruinsIn the mid 60s, a man stood up in a car and was killed going down a lift. Then in 1968 the last car detached from the rest of the coaster and rolled backwards until it derailed, tossing its passengers out, injuring them. Then again, in 1986, another man was killed trying to climb from one car to another while the coaster was moving.
No surprise, these “incidents” were hard hard for many people to forget (even though the two deaths are clearly caused by “user error”), and the decline of Lincoln Park began. Hoping more money would fix the problem, Lincoln Park’s owners invested $75,000 in the park, but just as construction completed, the Comet’s brake’s failed, the coaster’s cars jackknifed and the last car detached, finally screeching to a halt hanging precariously off the tracks. Not shockingly, that was The Comet’s final ride. Facing mounting debts and an accident-prone amusement park, Lincoln Park was shut down for good.
Image: gmeadows1/Flickr
Image: alohadave/Flickr
Image: artinruins
Image: LP CometAlthough most of the rides were sold off, the Comet still remains. A morbid reminder of the park’s previous glory which can be explored off rout 6 in North Dartmouth.
Lake Dolores, Newberry Springs, CA
From 1962 to the late 80s Lake Dolores contained the trifecta of summer fun: it was combination water park, amusement park, and campground but in an unexpected locale. Situated on the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the park was supplied with water by underground desert springs that fed the area. After multiple owners and unsuccessful new concepts (changing its name to Rock-a-Hoola being one of them) the park fell out of style, and most of the rides were sold off.
Image: Clay Larsen/Flickr
Image: TravelingMango/FlickrAll that remained were the old water slides, which must have seemed pretty bizarre hanging out on an abandoned stretch of highway in the middle of the desert – that is, until Lake Dolores was happened upon by the reality TV show Rob and Big (focusing on the life of Rob, a professional skateboarders and his friends). While filming a drive from LA to Vegas, the reality show crew stopped at Lake Dolores to attempt skateboarding on the abandoned slides. EEEK!! You can watch it here.
Although no one got hurt, leaving the slides intact became and huge liability for the owners of Lake Dolores. Soon after the episode aired, most of the water slides were taking out of the park.
Glen Echo Amusement Park, Glen Echo, MarylandGlen Echo was created in 1891 as a Chautauqua site (a government funded adult arts center) and slowly morphed into an amusement park in the beginning of the 20th century. The park’s gorgeous art-deco buildings and craftsman carousel drew crowds from D.C., but slowly old-fashioned Glen Echo lost popularity, and it closed its doors in 1968.
Image: katmere/Flickr
Image: katmere/Flickr
Glen Echo was then turned over the the National Parks Service, who has donated the park to different arts organizations over the years. Although many other of the original buildings and rides and fallen into disuse, the Spanish Ballroom and Bumper-Car Pavilion host dances on Friday and Sunday Nights and art classes are held in the former Arcade building. In addition, the classic carousel (which has 2 chariots, 4 rabbits, 4 ostriches, 38 horses, a lion, tiger, giraffe, and a fancy prancing deer) went through an almost 20-year renovation, and is now open to the public for rides.
Image: chrisbb@prodigy.net/FlickrIf breaking and entering isn’t your thing, Glen Echo is the perfect out-of-use amusement park to check out since it’s legally open to the public!
BONUS Chippewa Lake Park, Medina County, Ohio
Image: logencz/FlickrDisclaimer: Chippewa Lake was torn down in 2009, so you can no longer visit it, but it’s still worth reading about. Built in 1875 by Edward Andrews, Chippewa Lake Park was originally named “Andrew’s Pleasure Ground”. Luckily, that innuendo-inducing name was changed in 1898 when the park switched owners and even more rides were installed. Chippewa Lake Park was super popular in the 20s and then slowly declined until it was closed in 1978. After being abandoned, it was left pretty much alone for the next 30+ years. All of the wooden rides remained and as the forest took back the land that was cleared for the park, the rides became part of the environment.
Image: Familyguyfan221/Flickr
Image: Mike Adams Photos/FlickrSince the park lay abandoned for so many years, it became almost as beloved in “death” as it had been in “life”. There were even group tours offered on the grounds of the park in the months before its final demise.
Image: Mike Adams Photos/FlickrSince these pictures were taken, all the buildings and rides of Lake Chippewa have been destroyed to make way for a spa and hotel, which has yet to be built.
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