Amusement Parks Of Pennsylvania

A comprehensive guide to 13 parks in the state, complete with information on rides and attractions. Packed with vintage postcard images and photos.

Idlewild and SoakZone has charmed people across Western Pennsylvania and beyond since the late 1800s. The park was developed by Pittsburgh's Mellon family as a picnic grove to boost traffic on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. When C.C. Macdonald took the helm in 1931, rides, entertainment and other attractions came to Idlewild over the next half century, along with the adjacent Story Book Forest. After joining the Kennywood family of amusement parks, Idlewild added a Wild West town, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a water slide complex. Author Jennifer Sopko tells the heartwarming history of a Pennsylvania amusement park that continues to delight generations of families.

This book focuses on those great memories and experiences you can only get in an amusement park. Our attention will be on Pennsylvania parks and rides that have pleased riders for generations, along with covering some newer rides in those parks. Also included are some interesting state landmarks within a close vicinity of the covered amusement parks to give you a good blueprint for a getaway. Included are interviews with some very important people in the amusement park industry and many photos. Featured parks include Dorney Park, Hersheypark, Kennywood, Waldameer, Lakemont Park, Conneaut Lake Park and DelGrosso's.

At one time, Western Pennsylvania was home to dozens of small amusement parks, many of them trolley parks. These parks, originally designed to bolster streetcar business, were a way for workers to seek respite from the crowded, dirty cities. While some of these parks never developed into much more than a dance hall and a merry-go-round, others became full-scale amusement parks with rides, entertainment, and other amusements. After years of battling floods, changing economies, the decline of streetcars, and competition from other amusement parks, many of these amusement parks ended up closing their gates for good, the thrills they once provided now relegated to memories. With many of these parks all but lost to time, it is time to take a look back and remember some of the most prominent lost amusement parks of Western Pennsylvania.

At one time, Western Pennsylvania was home to dozens of small amusement parks, many of them trolley parks. These parks, originally designed to bolster streetcar business, were a way for workers to seek respite from the crowded, dirty cities. While some of these parks never developed into much more than a dance hall and a merry-go-round, others became full-scale amusement parks with rides, entertainment, and other amusements. After years of battling floods, changing economies, the decline of streetcars, and competition from other amusement parks, many of these amusement parks ended up closing their gates for good, the thrills they once provided now relegated to memories. With many of these parks all but lost to time, it is time to take a look back and remember some of the most prominent lost amusement parks of Western Pennsylvania.

Idlewild and SoakZone has charmed people across Western Pennsylvania and beyond since the late 1800s. The park was developed by Pittsburgh's Mellon family as a picnic grove to boost traffic on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. When C.C. Macdonald took the helm in 1931, rides, entertainment and other attractions came to Idlewild over the next half century, along with the adjacent Story Book Forest. After joining the Kennywood family of amusement parks, Idlewild added a Wild West town, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a water slide complex. Author Jennifer Sopko tells the heartwarming history of a Pennsylvania amusement park that continues to delight generations of families.

Indian Trail and Edgemont Amusement Parks highlights the history of two legendary amusement parks in Lehigh Township. Unique images cover Indian Trail Park from its founding by Samuel and William Solliday in 1929 to its closing in 1984. Photographs of Edgemont Park recall its days as a trolley park, started by the Blue Ridge Traction Company. These images are sure to bring back memories of the rides, games, and thrills that kept people coming back year after year.