  Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 17 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.246.96.250 |
I was thinking about a memory I never had. I grew up in the northwestern most corner of Novi, and where, at that time, Novi road crossed 13 Mile, right next to Walled Lake, there was a scary looking round building sitting in a large field. My parents told me it used to be an amusement park at one time, before the hazardous nature of rides back then caused one injury too many. Most of it was torn down, and the building that remained was used as a flea market for some time before that eventually closed. For some reason I suddenly decided to look into this a little and found this fantastic web page: http://www.waterwinterwonderla nd.com/walledlakeamusementpark .asp I am truly nostalgiac for a thing I never saw. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1227 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
I can remember taking Pontiac Trail from Maple (15 Mile Road) and going over with my folks to the Michigan football games and passing by the old Walled Lake Amusement Park. That old wooden roller-coaster looked pretty awesome from ground level. I never got to ride it, but my brother did. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 2495 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.15.105 |
What caused the demise of the close-in amusement parks? Walled Lake, Eastwood, Jefferson Beach, Electric Park, Edgewood, etc. Land values, liability issues, age, lack of interest, changing tastes, competition? | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3784 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Remember, Michigan's weather means the places aren't open all year. They were big tracts of land for developers. Just like drive-ins, the land was worth more than the customers. TV and air conditioning were also competition. The affordability of the automobile made it easier for families to get out of town farther and farther. The interstates and expressways helped empty the city too. jjaba can compare it to House of David and Jews at South Haven, Mich. in summertime. Times changed, transportation changed, people could go farther away. And for Brightmoor, this was before Branson, Mo., Micky Gilly, and the Oak Ridge Boys. jjaba. (Oom papa Oom Papa Oom Papa Mau Mau) | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 263 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 129.9.163.234 |
MikeM--all of those parks listed were built by the streetcar companies (they were privately owned, not municipal in the teens, twenties) as destinations for streetcar riders apart from the mon-fri 6:00 AM-6:00 PM (business week) traffic. This gave riders someplace to go on Sunday, and the streetcar company made that money, too. There is a large old red brick building at Orchard Lake road and Grand river, with a huge smokestack. For most baby boomers who grew up near that, it was a winery. It was built as the power house for the street railway, and the terminal point for a loop that extended all the way up Orchard lake road, ending at the Walled lake amusement park. My friend Brian Golden can tell much history about this. Folks from the city could take the Grand River street car to Orchard lake road, then transfer to that line up to the park. The parks died when they did because the operators kept them small, did nothing to stem the decline caused by the "punks" who did not behave as previous generations had, and got themselves caught up in a downward spiral of disinvestment that fed itself. | ||
Rustic Member Username: Rustic Post Number: 2413 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 130.132.177.245 |
Another factor: baby boomers grew up. Although the peak of the baby boom was ~57, there were 11 years of baby boom births prior to that peak. Some of these amusement parks pooped out at about the time that the early to mid baby boomers grew out of the amusement park age range (e.g. Edgewater park). | ||
Rustic Member Username: Rustic Post Number: 2414 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 130.132.177.245 |
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Wash_man Member Username: Wash_man Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2006 Posted From: 69.221.80.238 |
I grew up in a small town in northern Macomb County. In 1973 our eight grade class trip was to Edgewater Park. It seemed like it was so far, far away. I remember the place as being run down. I remember there was moss growing in the roller coaster cars. It must have closed not long after that. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3787 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Wash_man, welcome to Forum. Yes, that Westside destination would have been far away. The onliest reason you were there is because your teacher grew up on the Westside no doubt. She had to tell the bus driver how to get there. 56packman tells it like it tis. They were called "Electric Parks" because they were owned by electric utilities or transit systems. They were destinations on the electric inter-urbans. The Walled Lake Park would have seemed way far away from the city if you lived on 12th and Grand River for example. Take the drive out Grand River or bus out there and see what jjaba means. Thanks. There are still some extant, such as Oaks Park, Portland, Oregon; Coney Island; or Santa Cruz, Calif. jjaba, on the Tilt-a-Whirl. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1228 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
Electric Park was owned by a family member, (Gaukler). AIW previously posted some neat pictures of the place, down by the MacArthur Bridge.Quite impressive for its time. Jefferson Beach had a bad fire that took it all down.Late 50's I think. It's now the site of Jefferson Beach Marina in SCS. | ||
Bongman Member Username: Bongman Post Number: 1078 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 198.111.56.128 |
Does anyone have any pics of the race track that existed on 8 mile somewhere on the East side ? Maybe Schoennherr ? Any old timers ever go there ? | ||
Udmphikapbob Member Username: Udmphikapbob Post Number: 147 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 206.81.45.34 |
There was a shoddy little amusement park on Van Dyke called "Riverland" too...south of Clinton River Road in what I assume is NW Sterling Heights. Any connection to these other parks, or was that just a private venture? | ||
Super_d Member Username: Super_d Post Number: 870 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 70.88.106.173 |
ooooh no! a 'sub-urban' love-fest! yiks! super d(motordetroit) | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1229 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
Bongman---perhaps you are thinking of (8 Mile Race Track)---"Motor City Speedway:---Fred Wolf ( WXYZ) calling the stock car races on radio ( and later tv)---Iggy Gatona, driver, a crowd pleaser, vowed he would not shave til he won a race. Had quite a beard before he finally crossed the finish line in first place. Then there was Wild Bill Nyaday or was he a boxer? I think he was a driver.--"dem were the days." I also saw a boxing match or two there---No one but me remembers Baltimore's own "Sonny Boy West", who eventually lost his life in a later boxing match. I saw his one bout at MCS. Boy, that had to be a good 50 years ago! | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3790 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
The Rock has a memory. Wow. But what was for supper last night? jjaba. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 546 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
The Rock's memory ain't perfect. It was Iggy Katona, not Gatona. When he wasn't racing at Motor City Speedway, he ran a garage at Orchard Lake road and Maple Road. It was practically farmland then; cripes, it's the middle of Farmington Hills now. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 60 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 69.136.155.244 |
The now-defunct Riverland Amusement Park was situated on the east side of Van Dyke, along the south bank of the Clinton River. It began life in the 1920's as one of the numerous picnic groves in that area which were established by various ethnic and fraternal groups in Detroit whose members wanted their own place in the country for summertime fun. A "Sunday Drive", coupled with bands, beer, pop and games for the kids in a shady picnic grove was very popular with families back in the 1920's and 30's. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3793 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Even guys on the Westside knew Iggy Katona. jjaba spoke too soon about the Rock. Thanks Ray1936. jjaba. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 593 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
Electric Park hosted dance bands in the 'teens. LeRoy Smith, among other bands. | ||
Pam Member Username: Pam Post Number: 186 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 4.229.90.154 |
Actually that is West Bloomfield Twp. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1230 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
Love a duck---I type a g instead of a k after 50 years and all hell breaks loose. Jump all over the rock. Anyway, I don't remember the garage at Orchard Lake and Maple, but I do remember a Cities Service gas station that was on the south side of Maple west of the Orchard Lake intersection. Actually it was a stone structure and there were very few Cities Services gas stations around then. Wasn't there Paul Levoy and his Cities Services house band that played (live) on WJR in the 40's? | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3798 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
The Rock remembers the 19 cent gas at Cities Service, eh? now it costs more than that for chewing gum. Rock, type your posts in pencil, then when you have to erase it won't sting so badly. This Forum is about truth, like the absence of socks on anybody from Grosse Pointe at ballgames. Lawyer slip-ons without socks are just plain stupid. Bad enough, the cigars! jjaba. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1235 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
wise ass. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1236 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
I mean wise guy. And you just wait til you are .00002 off the mark on something. Of course, you have so many posts going, it takes three grown men and a boy just to keep up with you. |
