Next, What a great story. Now that Im a vegan and animal rights activist, Id hate it. Crews worked around the clock to rebuild the Giant so that it could open that season. Yes, Riverside Park was memorable as was Mountain Park. We had some good times there. My best memories of my being a teenager is my time being at Paragon Park. Very scary, but such an adventure. I lived at Nantasket from 75 79. Lincoln Park, North Dartmouth, Ma. Newton High Schools Senior Proms were held in the Totem Pole Ballroom ~ what a special memory!! Wonderland itself was inspired by the massive Worlds Fair exhibits that had been an international sensation since the mid-19th century. This brings back memories. Vendors along the boardwalk sold fried clams, salt water taffy made in a pulling machine visible to patrons, hot dogs and other food. Fond memories! According to the latest fatalities report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2005, 52 . The musical runs from July 27 through . but still good memories. Mountain Park in Holyoke was my favorite, my cousins and I would go there when they visited from Acton. At 98 feet high with an 88-foot drop, the park's giant wooden roller coaster used to be the world's tallest before the park closed in 1984. The coaster is now called \"The Wild One\". The Palm Garden restaurant, function facility, and performance hall at the base of the hill drew guests of the surrounding hotels and larger parties of conventioneers, corporate dinners, and class reunions. Loved the Merry Go Round. He remembers seeing wooden picnic tables so heavy that it usually took four men to move them having been heaved over an eight-foot fence and carried by the raging tides to the other end of the park. Doesnt anyone remember two of the most popular parks in CT Savin Rock in New Haven, CT and Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport, Ct that was a lot smaller than the Rock but had one of the best ballrooms in the country with constant top named performing bands in attendance. Thank you! We had so much fun back in those days 1958 ,so many places to go and things to do back then, there were high school dancing, boys club dancing, ice skating, sad that the kids today missed out on all of those things, I will never forget them or the other good times I had growing up. As the story goes, were it not for the limited number of months in the year it could be open, Disney would have been more involved. So glad you shared yours here too . Statistics are an important factor to take into consideration when you begin riding an ample amount of roller coasters. The roller coaster, known as the Green Streak, replaced an earlier, figure-8 model that had been located at the rear of the complex next to the Palm Garden. well, all was fine till halfway home and my brother starts getting sick I was on top of my step sister out the window most of the ride home Still great times and I miss when we used to have no cares but having fun.. About a dozen years later I visited Paragon Park while on spring break from RIT and took a few pictures. Mike! \r\rEnjoy! Mark Mason, the manager of the Wild World amusement park near Baltimore, paid $28,000 to buy the Giant Coaster, and promptly announced plans to dismantle the ride piece-by-piece and have it rebuilt in time for the next season. I loved the wooden roller coaster and the fun house with the mirrors as well as the riding fun house sitting in the red cars! Within two seasons, however, Paragon was falling short of its financial projections, Eastern Parks investors wanted to abandon the concept. But another group of preservationists began to think about how memories of the park could be saved, and fixed its gaze upon the antique carousel. My favorite was Riverside Park in Agawam MA. Is Nantasket Beach also open? We used all our tickets there. It was one of the first landmarks you would spot when driving into Hull on George Washington Boulevard: The Giant Roller Coaster of Paragon Park. Dodge threw himself into making the park a success, changing exhibits each year and adding to the mix of rides and attractions. Its assets were sold off in 1979, with the land being cleared for a housing development. The Super Screamer was there until 1999. Pleasure Island Norumbega were our amusement parks of choice. Maybe 5 +. (Water World had room to expand because both of DCs older parks had closed some years before.) Title . All rights reserved. They had a great time. I remember riding the Virginia Reel 7 times one night! Great memories ???? Jack! Ive nothing but great memories of how it used to be around here (sounds of the park were like music to my ears. My late Mom loved the arcade area, especially. Maybe 1977? The Summer of 1985 seemed like the longest ever, as day by day more and more of Paragon disappeared. )Danny Sordello. By the time the flames were extinguished, the Green Streak was a shambles, as was the signature front entrance and much of the park facing Nantasket Avenue. Wow spent every summer thare as a kid into my teenage yrs. My question exactly! Movie Stars came from California The Three Stooges often preformed on stage I believe it closed in the late 60s. Waves are just as likely to come from local windswells as distant groundswells, and the best swell direction comes from the northeast. It was. It features a 450 spiral helix and a series of bunny hills that produce a significant amount of air time. Romantic Totem Pole with sofas next to table lamps, and one time, the Spike Jones Band. This magazine should also research Savin Rock which was in West Haven, CT good history. He says he and his son boarded . Theyve got a Facebook page too a great place for everyone to gather and share their memories of the park and fun times there. Glad when it finally close and that gorilla was sent to a sanctuary down south and CNN showed the gorilla touching grass for the first time in over 25 years. Of course, we miss Rocky Point and Crescent Park, they were in our state of RI; however, Jolly Chollies was an equally amazing amusement park. Feeling nostalgic. Maybe I might see them again in Heaven. The parks next transformation would not come from fire, but from Mother Natures wrath. With the Stones out of town on vacation, disaster duty fell to Klayman. Younger brother Larry, 30, and mother Rose, 73, were left carry on the management of the family business. It is now located next to the old train station and clock tower. My dad worked there. Oh Rich, I know EXACTLY what you mean about smelling the beach before you even got there. Could hear the train whistle every Saturday from my yard. I liked Riverside Park in the 70s. They married in 1935. WHAT IS IT? It was always fun to hang on the beach side with the arcades. I grew up about miles from Pine Island Park. Great park. Great place. Then we started aging and before we knew it Savin Rock as we knew it was gone, but not forgotten. Photo, Print, Drawing Roller coaster, [Paragon Park], Nantasket Beach, Mass. In addition to a massive saltwater swimming pool and a Ferris wheel with an ocean view, popular rides included the Corkscrew Loop Roller Coaster, the 13-story Freefall, the Log Flume, and the Castle of Terror. Oh my those clam cakes. Too bad theyre all just sweet memories now. I have fond memories of the Gay Dolphin Gift Cove, and asked her to check it out when shes in the area. Today, the only surviving remnant of Paragon Park on the boardwalk is the historic Paragon Park Carousel, which was moved from its original site. The midway featured games of skill and chance and performances by Hugo Zacchini, aka the Human Projectile. The amusement park closed in 1994 and sat abandoned for years before its remains were finally demolished out of concern for public safety. I really loved Lincoln Park.If youre not you made my morning just for letting me remember Lincoln Park!!! SUMMER - Open six days a week during the summer (closed Tuesdays). I remember the blue slide my grandfather had the restaurant under the clock I worked there for many years with my whole family,Gee what a great time to live. My parents had season tickets on Tuesday nights for years. They were all fun. Carousel Under the Clock, as it was known, operated as a private business until 1996, when the three businessmen who purchased the ride at the auction decided that they needed to recoup their investment. I also remember Bensons fondly . Great memories! A rider suffered head, wrist and ankle injuries on Monday after being ejected from a roller coaster in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Those were the days! Storybook characters, a pirate ship and Dodge City with a saloon and stagecoach holdups were among the attractions. John- what great evocative memories you have of Hull! Six Flags Over Georgia, Batman: The Ride Was 14-Year-Old Who Died at Orlando Amusement Park Too Heavy. Find it all and much more with the interactive Roller Coaster Database. In short, we Share. It was dismantled and completely rebuilt down in Maryland. That is the first one for me about 1952. You forgot Pleasure Island. I remember taking the ferry from Rowes Wharf in Boston to Nantasket Beach as a kid. Miss Rocky Point, grandparents had a cottage right next to the park, spent many summer weekends visiting the cottages and walking to the park, loved the pool, playing speedball, the pizza slices and the bumper are. Roller coasters Past This list is incomplete, please expand it if you can. Growing up in Everett,MA I know several of these parks. A nice man left money to the town I lived in and every year the town would set up the trip to Whalom Park! Thanks for the memories. Loved the donkey rides. Copyright 2021 Retro Roadmap. Each week, it seemed, brought a new development proposal. Paragons next major milestones arrived in 1963, when three separate fires swept through the area. Six Flags America in Maryland purchased the coaster and relocated it in 1985. Hopefully at a family get together that poor kid is now telling his children (or grandchildren), You ARE NOT going to believe what happened to me in 1984 at Whalom Park, it sure wasnt funny then but looking back, Back in 1973, a guy made a sci-fi home film that had several filming locations, one of them being the Fun-o-Rama park at Salisbury Beach, MA. We used to park before we got to the park, because there were so many pretty girls we couldnt keep our eyes on the road. My family had the summer home on the hill directly behind Hurleys Bathhouse (for those who remember). In Africa, what three biomes are the most common? And you can still ride the Wild One wooden roller coaster at Six Flags America in Maryland. We enjoyed quite a few evening visits in the 80s. Lots and lots of great memories. In late 1984, they accepted Kahns offer. United States--Massachusetts--Nantasket Beach. Cut fresh pasta into small rectangles and pinch the, Copyright 2023 TipsFolder.com | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. Paragon fans rejoiced that incredibly, two of the signature pieces of Paragon Park would survive its imminent death. Loved going to Rocky Point sometimes just for the chowder and clam cakes but always ended up in the amusement park. He was the manager and operator of the Green Streak roller coaster in Paragon Park located in Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts. The rest of the site is devoted to condominiumdevelopment. Loved the elephant ride at Benson Animal Farm. White City Amusement Park on Lake Quinsig in Worcester, MA. He also would own the row of storefronts along Nantasket Avenue from the front entrance northward to Fascination, although to most observers, the separation was not noticeable. But in the 80s some of my best fun was checking out the abandoned rides of Crescent Park when my grandmother lived in the high rise they built on the land. As one of the most historic and popular highways in North America (and dare we say the world), Route 66 has gone through a series of changes since its inception in 1926, going from . The Hurricane in Aug of 1954 finally put an end to it. Roller skating was a big thing for me. I remember Savin Rock with a fond passion. Loved Kings Castle land as a fun place to take my grandson when he was young. peter; It is now adjacent to the old train station and clock tower. "They preserved the spirit of the ride," amusement park aficionado B. Derek Shaw told USA Today. Beach was great! On March 28, 1923, flames ripped through Paragon, causing $500,000 in damage and destroying much of the southern end of the park and the cottages along the way toward Atlantic Hill. Paragon park roller coaster on nantasket . Correct, Leo, only the name was Pleasure Island. See my post below. Superman: Tower of Power in Louisville, Kentucky My wife and I had our first date there. Retro Roadmap Photo Archives- Do These Places Look Familiar To You? I vividly remember a Killer Kowalski wrestling show at the pavilion during one of my visits. Looff built the parks first merry-go-round in 1892 and another in 1895. Roller coaster, [Paragon Park], Nantasket Beach, Mass. My favorite ride was the merry go round and, when I got older the race track where you could drive cars around a track. the wonderful carousel at nearby Lake Quassapaug! My grandparents lived in Nantasket so I had the pleasure of going to Paragon Park many times during the summer months. News of the developers interest appeared in December 1984 in a place that was unlikely to attract attention a column in the pages of The New England Real Estate Journal, a trade publication generally seen only by those in the real estate industry. Elvis came there back in the 50s. Dodge, a Boston businessman who had made a fortune selling whalebone, a substance that was used for so many products that it has been called the plastic of its day, was the prime mover behind the construction of Paragon. Took my kids to Kings Castle Land, Whitman, Ma, I miss Riverside Park, Agawam, Ma-not the same since Six Flags took it over. Youd once drive into Hull on George Washington Boulevard and watch the horizon for the rising coaster in the distance; now, its a monstrous condo building. Is there a wave on Nantasket Beach? Neither one mentioned. In 1931, David and Rose Stone created the Paragon Park Operating Company to hold their ownership interest and shield it from creditors. \r\rDo you remember hearing the clicking of the cars as they climb to the top? Yea and I still remember that poor gorilla confined in that cement cell of a prison. Unfortunately it was replaced by a Six Flags. 2022 Dennis Connors Photography. The Stones took control of the main Paragon property, as well as its rear parking lots and warehouse, while Golden retained the section of former railroad bed that would later house the Turnpike Cars ride and the Magic Mine Train. I remember Savin Rock very well. What we know about the amusement park accident that killed an 11-year-old Iowa boy. Savin Rock was an outstanding amusement park, with roller coasters over the water, the Virginia Reel, a fabulous carousel with brass rings to catch, fun houses and top name hamburger/hotdog drive ins to feed the appetite you worked up walking the miles of rides, races and arcades. Silver-colored flagpoles stretched across the entrance, now enclosed by chain-link gates that would swing inward. Dogs will not be allowed on Nantasket Beach in the summer, regardless of whether the law passes. Now folks who have never been there will get an inkling of how important the park was to so many people! Chuck Lawrence. 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