Saturday on the kayaking trip, Ian, mentioned that after the canals along the river were shut down they were repurposed and turned into a state park. And again, in class today, two instances of abandoned or repurposed places were brought up. They were brought up during the GORP, where we looked at the abandoned cabins in Elkmont, Tennessee and later someone mentioned that the Bushkill Park site for their multimedia project was also an abandoned amusement park
At the mention of the latter, I remembered another abandoned amusement park that once existed near where I grew up. Forest Park was an amusement park that existed in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, around the corner from where I went to elementary school. The park was existed under various different names throughout the 19th century but was finally named Forest Park in 1885. The park drew large crowds of people from Philadelphia and New York, who wished to escape the city for da trips. Some of the main attractions including a swimming pond, swam ride and merry-go-round. The park saw it’s peak numbers in the 1940’s post world-war II but admissions began to decline after a race riot in the late 1950’s and eventually shut down in 1968.
I’ve always had an interest in history, especially appreciated local history and on Saturday, when someone mentioned the importance of such things, I was reminded of these kind of places. Places and features changing over time is inevitable and sort of leads us to think of our own mortality. We remember places so distinctly and to think that in 50 years or 100 years they won’t exist anymore is a daunting thought. So to acknowledge and not forget these historic sites is to really pay respect to every one who ever worked, built or enjoyed these places.
Today, besides what is available online, the only standing homage to Forrest Park is some of the concrete slabs from the site. The Park also inspired the names of some of the neighborhoods that were built around the old site.