|
|
|
In William Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the King comments: “Now is the winter of our discontent.”
I might add winter affects me just that way.
It recently seemed that my literary muse angel had left for the warm beaches of the Caribbean, leaving me bereft of any column ideas. Then I received a note from Gayle Stahl. She and her husband, Col. Clement Stahl, had retired and recently moved to Glen Haven Road. She asked if I would write about Glen Haven Amusement Park sometime.
Logically, I should save the subject for when “summer comes with flower and bee” (from a poem by Felicia Hemans), but what better time to write about the good times summer brings than in the middle of a desolate winter?
The Glen Haven Amusement Park was part of Glen Haven Resort, also called Glen Haven Village.
The Glen Haven Hotel was built in 1899, on ground made by leveling a large hill and using the soil to fill in an adjacent swamp.
The hotel was one of the largest in the area. Its dining rooms and verandahs could accommodate about 400 people. The facility went through several ownerships by various railroad companies.
The Rochester Street Railway decided to increase passenger traffic on its Glen Haven line by supplementing the attractions of the Glen Haven Hotel with an amusement park. To do this, they destroyed part of the beautiful grounds by building carnival courts and midways that turned the park-like area into a Coney Island that attracted fortune tellers; sideshow barkers that hawked such attractions as bearded ladies, fortune tellers, weight guessers; amusement–type rides; and vendors selling balloons, red hots, peanuts and popcorn.
The high Ferris wheel was a copy of one at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
A roller coaster carried brave passengers to dizzying heights, then dropped them down so fast, many almost lost all their breath. Patrons who survived this could test their mettle by going on the miniature railroad that ran through the grounds. It went in and out of coves and gullies at a rapid speed.
At the high point of its popularity, the amusement park boasted 50 to 100 concessions and amusement facilities. The grounds were fenced in and patrons paid an admission charge just to enter.
In the evening, free attractions were offered to patrons of the park and the hotel. These included trapeze performers, high divers, vaudeville acts and even burlesque ladies from big city theaters.
In William Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the King comments: “Now is the winter of our discontent.”
I might add winter affects me just that way.
It recently seemed that my literary muse angel had left for the warm beaches of the Caribbean, leaving me bereft of any column ideas. Then I received a note from Gayle Stahl. She and her husband, Col. Clement Stahl, had retired and recently moved to Glen Haven Road. She asked if I would write about Glen Haven Amusement Park sometime.
Logically, I should save the subject for when “summer comes with flower and bee” (from a poem by Felicia Hemans), but what better time to write about the good times summer brings than in the middle of a desolate winter?
The Glen Haven Amusement Park was part of Glen Haven Resort, also called Glen Haven Village.
The Glen Haven Hotel was built in 1899, on ground made by leveling a large hill and using the soil to fill in an adjacent swamp.
The hotel was one of the largest in the area. Its dining rooms and verandahs could accommodate about 400 people. The facility went through several ownerships by various railroad companies.
The Rochester Street Railway decided to increase passenger traffic on its Glen Haven line by supplementing the attractions of the Glen Haven Hotel with an amusement park. To do this, they destroyed part of the beautiful grounds by building carnival courts and midways that turned the park-like area into a Coney Island that attracted fortune tellers; sideshow barkers that hawked such attractions as bearded ladies, fortune tellers, weight guessers; amusement–type rides; and vendors selling balloons, red hots, peanuts and popcorn.
The high Ferris wheel was a copy of one at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
A roller coaster carried brave passengers to dizzying heights, then dropped them down so fast, many almost lost all their breath. Patrons who survived this could test their mettle by going on the miniature railroad that ran through the grounds. It went in and out of coves and gullies at a rapid speed.
At the high point of its popularity, the amusement park boasted 50 to 100 concessions and amusement facilities. The grounds were fenced in and patrons paid an admission charge just to enter.
In the evening, free attractions were offered to patrons of the park and the hotel. These included trapeze performers, high divers, vaudeville acts and even burlesque ladies from big city theaters.
The entertainment intrigued the crowds until late in the evening, which would end with fireworks that in 1900 cost from $2,000 to $3,000 per week.
During its heyday from 1900 to 1910, the Glen Haven crowd during the weekdays averaged between 5,000 and 10,000 people, but reached from 25,000 to 30,000 on Sundays in July and August.
Despite the record crowds, the resort operated in the red due to the cost of new buildings, salaries, bands, vaudeville acts, fireworks and the interest on loans, coupled with the taxes.
By 1915, the era was over. The dilapidated buildings burned down in 1928. The resort era had ended.
Patricia Wayne is Irondequoit’s town historian.
