Where Have All NEPA's Amusement Parks Gone?

Northeastern Pennsylvania, commonly referred to as NEPA by local people, has been home to numerous amusement parks during its history. The leisure park business in Northeastern PA was once as popular here as everywhere in the. As a matter of fact, the amusement park business develop throughout Pennsylvania. Park historians estimate there may have been as many as one hundred parks functioning in PA back in the roaring twenties. Northeast PA has popular leisure areas like Rocky Glen (later called Ghost Town at the Glen), Sans Souci Park, Hanson's Park, Vitrina Park, and Angela Area. The area was busy with local family entertainment. The various parks were probably within a few miles drive or coach ride from just about everyone residing in NEPA.

These parks originated as trolley parks. The park systems were strategically located along the rail lines and built to encourage off-hour and weekend use of the trolley line. The concept worked well again in the railroad peak. Families could ride the trolley line to the parks for a tiny cost and spend the day enjoying free entertainment, refreshments lunches, and both mechanized and gravity-powered rides. The widely used sayings "going up the line" and "going down the line" are still in use today however almost all of us who use this catch phrase probably never realized it is referencing the trolley lines that ran up and down the valley.

These types of parks were put in wooded areas along the rail line and never far from residential local communities. This placement might have been one of the reasons playground attendance declined over the years. The parks were never designed to store a large number of automobiles since most people didn't even own a car when the parks were established. On the other hand, the parking problem was just one nail in the coffin. Smaller park systems eventually became unable to turn profits in the same way the greater parks did. Some factors were liability insurance and overall operating expense. The weather also doesn't seem to be to cooperate in the way it does a lttle bit south of here, therefore the operating season was much too short. The southern part of PA has been more fortunate in conditions of amusement facilities. It truly is home to a number of larger parks like Hershey Park, Knoebels amusement park suppliers Area, and Dorney Park. The sheer size of these facilities as well as the quantity of attractions are two of the key reasons for their continuing success.

Since for NEPA, all we now have left is a few ruins and plenty of memories. Overall, the theme parks have disappeared to a point in which a child today would never know they were completing the site of your entertainment park if you went past. Rocky Glen for example, barely has any obvious remains other than places walkways and the faded sign at the entrance. Hanson's Park was cut back to life briefly for outdoor concert events after its closing and some of the constructions still remain. Most of Angela Park has recently been razed over safety concerns and the land earlier known as used for Sans Souci Park has been developed. These parks are absent forever and the chances of a new entertainment park being established in Northeastern Pennsylvania is improbable, if not impossible.