| Honest Abe |
| A Brief History of Lincoln Park Lincoln park was located on Rt. 6 in North Dartmouth Massachusetts. In its earliest days, it served as a picnic park at the end of the trolley line. Its location (between New Bedford and Fall River) was ideal, and thus many families would flock there, particularly on Sunday to picnic and play in the pine grove. The name "Lincoln Park" was chosen by a lottery when the park started to boom in the late 19th century. In the Early days, the park offered a playground for the kids, as well as concession stands and a few games. As it developed, a Looff Carousel was added, along with a "Giant Coaster" and a dance hall. The original dance hall building, remained in part, until one of the great fires of the early 1990's. Clambakes were the feature attraction, along with the annual "Southern New England County Fair." Big Bands provided the musical soundtrack almost nightly. However, the picnic ground business began to decline as the auto became more affordable, and people started to drive to bigger and better attractions. Thus, Lincoln Park evolved into an amusement park. Under the original management team of John Collins, Max Zand, and Harry Prince, Lincoln Park evolved into its modern form after purchasing a bigger tract of land in the mid-40's. Many of the rides that most people loved best were constructed. The "Giant Coaster" was disassembled and re-created as the "Comet." Kiddy Land was built, the bubble bounce, mini golf, the mini-railroad, and the boat ride were all created at this point. Lincoln Park was a world of color and cool creatures thanks to the artistry of Dominic Spadola. He created Jack from the "Jack and the Giant" ride, along with all the colorful murals, signs, and the dark-house creatures. Clambakes, sock-hops, and synchronized skating teams were hip during the golden years. This was not to last forever. Due to tax issues and declining attendance Lincoln Park was closed forever, in 1987. People who visited the park during the final season stated that it just wasn't the same. Lincoln Park's rides were auctioned off. The carousel ended up on the Fall River waterfront, and the ferris wheel also remains somewhere in Massachusetts. Before I continue, Here are some fun notes on some rides... THE COMET: After being constructed in 1947 (for a whopping $80,000), the early riders needed to carry sandbags to help the cars move ahead because the the ride had not yet loosened up enough to let gravity work. In its history it had a variety of terrible accidents. In the mid 60's a man died as a result of standing up as the car descended the lift hill. In 1968, the last car detached from the train and rolled backwards until it derailed, tossing its passengers out. In 1986, a man dies while climbing from car to car while the coaster was in motion. In 1987, during the Comet's last run, faulty breaks caused the last car to derail and hang precariously off the track with its passengers inside. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the car remained in its position until vandals moved it. THE FUN HUOSE: Believe me, its not a spelling error... that's how it was spelt on the building! When the fun house became a hide-out for ruffians, the PIRATE DEN was built. This was dismantled during the final season and made into a gift shop which still stands. THE MYSTERY RIDE: this Caribbean jungle ride was converted into the MONSTER RIDE rather early during the "golden years." The MONSTER RIDE remained until the fires. After the park closed, it remained intact without incident until 1990. There was talk about re-opening the park, but this was not to be. Fires consumed those hopes. The first fire destroyed 10 buildings including the Dodgems, the first-aid building, the glass pitch, the skee-ball building, and other concessions and food stands. The cause of this was arsons. The second fire in 1991claimed the ballroom, the taproom, offices, small arcade, more concessions, the maintenance building, and the restaurant. This fire was caused by two teens that accidentally caused the fire in the taproom. The third fire was in 1992 destroying 13 buildings including the bowling alley, skating rink, game room, monster ride, souvenir stand, carousel building, and several concessions. After this fire, there was nothing to re-build, and all plans to do so were scrapped since there was little left to work with. In 1993, a fourth fire was started which wiped out the "towers" (food stands beside the pavilion), as well as the archway that connected them to the pavilion. The last fire destroyed the maintenance warehouse in the late 90's (1997?). After these fires, 90% of Lincoln Park's buildings were gone. Here is what remained as of my last personal visit in 2000: Besides the highlights of rides (painted marks on the ground), only a few physical reminders remain. The sign and entry for the Paratrooper are still there, as is the basin and entry for the kiddy land boat ride. Also remaining are: the casing for the mother-goose ride, the "grand central station" for the mini train, the golf course, the golf stand, the picnic pavilion (burned shell), a well (if anyone knows what this was, let me know), a bench near the comet, the comet itself, the gift shop (pirate den), a popcorn stand, an unmarked concession (behind which lie the Comet cars) beside the gift shop, a pizza stand, the mini-speedway building, another food concession across from the pizza stand... and a house at the end of the parking lot. There is also a collapsed ticket booth. There may be more... i didn't have a chance to fully explore. Its a sad site to see... but interesting at the same time. Most of the blue and red paint has chipped off, uncovering the old colorful paints. Also, there are a few nursery-rhyme characters lying around the golf course. So... what's the future? The site has been purchased for a mixed-use development. After the comet's lift hill collapsed in early 2005, the preservation efforts have diminished. It looks like another park has passed on for good. Taken from http://www.defunctnewengland.com/ |
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