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Location DB > United States > Massachusetts > North Dartmouth > Lincoln Park
 Name
Lincoln Park
 Viewing Options
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 Database Info
created by interactii on 1/13/2005 3:43 PM
last modified by shadowbot on 8/10/2010 4:38 PM
 Viewability
Publically Viewable Publically Viewable
This location has been labeled as Demolished, and therefore can be viewed by anyone.
 Overview
 Description
A large, rotting wooden roller coaster, and several buildings in various states of decay. Also a burned out house.
 Basic Information
Type: Amusement Park
Status: Demolished
Accessibility: Easy
Recommendation: was worth the trip
 Physical Information
Address
Rt 6. And Rt. 177
North Dartmouth, Massachusetts
United States
Owner: Last known to be Midway Realty, LLC
  • See a map of this location
  •  Hazards
  • unsafe flooring
  •  Interesting Features
    The coaster is probably the most interesting thing about this location, epically because its just starting to fall over. The location itself is very accessible.
     Security Measures
  • fences
  •  Historical Dates
    Built: 1894
    Closed: 1987
     Required Equipment
  • flashlight
  • long pants / sleeves
  • boots
  •  Recommended Equipment
    camera
     History
    The park has a long local history. It was originally built by a streetcar company that serviced Dartmouth as a way to increase weekend ticket sales on its trains. Originally called "Midway Park" or "Wesport Park, a new name was chosen by lottery. It was to be called the "Lincoln Park Casino".

    Many famous performers performed there at its prime, including Dick Clark, The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly.

    For many years, it was a main attraction in Dartmouth. I have foggy memories of going there myself as a child. The facility closed in 1987 due to excessive operating expenses and back taxes. It was also believed that a death that occurred on the park's roller coaster in 1987, just three months before it closed, may have altered the public’s perception of the park’s safety. Since 1987, the condition of the location has worsened significantly. An unending series of fires from 1990 to 2003 has claimed all but a handful of buildings. The roller coaster is still intact, though it is leaning to one side.

    Timeline

    1894 - Park Opened by Union Street Railway of New Bedford, MA

    1901 - Fire severely damages park, destroys the theater and other buildings, but a change in wind direction prevents total destruction.

    1910 - The first carosuel, a now priceless Louff, installed.

    1921 - A PTC 54 carousel was purchased from the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. and installed. The old carosuel was removed and its whereabouts are unknown.

    1941 - Park sold to John Collins & Associates for $40,000 ($500,000 inflation adjusted). They invested $150,000 installing a 14 lane bowling alley and updating the dance hall. The dance hall and bowling alley ran year round. This was the point at which the facility converted to a full fledged amusement park. Dominic Spadola was consulted to design the park's color scheme and art, which was unique and vibrant.

    1946 - Existing "Giant Coaster" removed and "Comet" roller coaster installed at the cost of $80,000.

    1951 - Comet Jr. opened, with a max height of 51 ft.

    1952 - John Collins buys and restores Mountain Park in Holyoke (see below).

    1964 - Man dies on the coaster after standing up as it ascended the first lift.

    1968 - On the coaster, going up the last hill, the final cart becomes disconnected and begins to roll backward. The cart derailed and turned sideways dumping six people to the ground ten feet below. The cause was the occupants were rocking the car and broke the connecting plates.

    1983 - An accident occurs on the Himalaya. Details rather sparse.

    1986 - June 8 - Jay Hoffman, the former president of the park, buys the facility for $5,000,000 ($8,300,000 inflation adjusted). It is presumed he purchased the other park (Mountain Park) at the same time. He planned to spend another 2.5 million renovating it. He buys it from his mother, Barbara B. Hoffman of Las Vegas, and from Harry E. Prince. He has plans of converting the "home town" feel of the park into something larger and more modern. He repaints the entire facility in red, white and blue.

    1980s - Bowling alley removed and converted to a full arcade. The aging bowling equipment was becoming to expensive to maintain, and there was greater demand for a large youth facility.


    1986 - Aug 21 - A local man dies after falling out of the coaster and being dragged for 60 ft at 55 mph. He was trying to move from one car to another as the ride was in motion.

    1986 - Nov 3 - Plans are proposed to move carousel to Battleship Cove. It is one of several things sold off to try to gather revenue to operate the park.

    1987 - May - Article in Providence Journal says new owner spent $75,000 restoring park, and had a 5 year plan to restore park to its former glory. The kiddy roller coaster (Comet Jr.) was dismantled during this upgrade. He assures people that all the rides are now safe and have been inspected.

    1987 - Sept 29 - Accident on the roller coaster injures four. The braking system failed. Just as the carts were entering the area, the braking system jammed and the cars jackknifed. This was the final ride of the coaster. The cars remained frozen in time on the tracks until vandals tore them off years later.

    1987 - Dec 3 - Park closes for $48,000 in back taxes and $13,000 to the town for police details. Almost all of the 48 rides in the park are dismantled and auctioned off. The Mountain Park in Holyoke, MA, that was owned by the same man, was closed at the same time (see this site, http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=22264 ).

    1988 - Apr 9 - Property forclosed on by Shamut Bank after it failed to sell for $3,500,000. Jay Hoffman said at that time that it he was confident it would never reopen as an amusement park. Shamut Bank proceeds to auction off anything of value on the property. The ferris wheel ends up on the New Bedford waterfront. Train is bought by Crystal Springs School in Assonet.

    1989 - Mar 30 - Approval for a 1.8 million dollar restoration project for the Lincoln Park Carousel. The carousel is now at the Battleship Cove location in Fall River. (See this site, http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=22152 )

    1990 - Park goes up in flames destroying 10 buildings. Cause was arson.

    1991 - May 5 - Park goes up in flames for the second time. Ballroom, Pavilion and some connecting buildings destroyed. At this time the location was owned by Shawmut Bank, now defunct. The fire was cause by two teenagers playing with fire a building called the taproom.

    1992 - Feb 2 - Leonard Hebert, an independent real estate broker, buys the property for $1,000,000 with plans to restore and reopen it.

    1992 - July 13, 5AM - Park goes up in flames again, destroying the skating rink and former bowling alley. Development plans are scrapped because there’s really nothing left to rebuild. Its not clear wether or not Hebert sold the property back to Shamut Bank or simply defaulted and let it revert to them.

    1993 - Fourth fire consumes food buildings.

    1993 - Bronhard Trust buys the park in 1993 from Shamut Bank for $265,000 ($331,000 inflation adjusted), the least ever paid for the park based on inflation. Walter Bronhard permits people to photograph the facility asking only that they ask his permission to do so.

    1997 - Fifth fire consumes warehouse and maintenance building

    1998 - The Lincoln Park sign was removed to add a water pumping station to the front corner of the property.

    2000 - Stop and Shop Inc. proposes to buy the land and build a supermarket there. They do not and instead build it at a better, more central location in Dartmouth in 2002 (former Builder’s Square location on Faunce Corner Road).

    2002 - Sept 28 - Park sold to Midway Realty, LLC for $1,850,000.

    2002 - The location is proposed for a low-income housing project but the well on the location had become contaimnated since the park's closing, and city water does not extend that far down Rt 6. This is still in the works, but chances look slim due to the water contaimnation.

    2003 - Sixth fire consumes an empty house on the property, the former house of the park keeper.

    2005 - Jan 22-26 - The tallest arc of the comet roller coaster colapses inward towards the center of the coaster, the direction in which it was leaning, 18 years after its last ride. Not bad for a wooden coster. RIP Comet!
     Media Coverage
    A book on the park:
    http://www.spinner...page=lincolnp.html
    And a clip from the video on the park:
    http://www.spinner...os/LincolnPark.mov

    There were also lots of articles in various newspapers such as the Providence Journal.
     Future Plans
    Plans on housing developments have fallen through. The coaster is still standing as of 8/10/2010.
     Stories


    Add your own story
     Photo Galleries
    Click to view gallery
    Historical And Misc
    Thu, Jan 13th, 2005
    posted by interactii
    20 pictures
    Click to view gallery
    Todd Long's 1998 Gallery
    Thu, Jan 13th, 2005
    posted by interactii
    12 pictures
    Click to view gallery
    ryans recent park pictures, say that three times fast
    Mon, Apr 24th, 2006
    posted by ryan
    16 pictures
     


    Add your own photos

    Mark all galleries as Seen
     Web Links
    Local Newspaper Feature:
    http://www.s-t.com/lincolnpark/

    Pictures:
    http://www.artsci....b/lincolnpark.html
    http://www.jack-id...es_lp/tns_intr.htm
    http://www.angelfire.com/ri/lincolnpark/

    QTVR Image From 1966:
    http://www.spinner...rk_aerial_1966.htm

    Artistic Pictures in Gallery 2, under abandoned amusement park:
    http://www.sleepingdogstudios.com/

    History/Other:
    http://www.rcdb.com/pd165.htm
    http://www.geociti...coaster_com/comet/
    http://members.aol.com/fiero64/
    http://www.leesmar...egion=Lincoln+Park

    Virtual Ride on the Comet via NLTrack:
    http://www.negativ...nct%20Coasters.htm

    Pretty accurate model of the Comet:
    http://www.rollerc...colnparkcomet.html

     Contribute

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     Moderator Rating
    The moderator rating is a neutral rating of the content quality, photography, and coolness of this location.

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     Validation
    This location's validation is current. It was last validated by Opheliaism on 8/10/2010 5:03 PM.

     Latest Changes
  • on Aug 10 10 at 17:03, Opheliaism validated this location
  • on Aug 10 10 at 16:38, shadowbot changed the following: Future Plans
  • on Mar 31 08 at 15:29, SaraBellum validated this location
  • on Mar 31 08 at 15:29, SaraBellum deleted gallery Now and its 6 pictures
  • on Aug 2 07 at 23:32, Emperor Wang validated this location
  • on Jul 28 07 at 2:53, interactii changed the following: Status, Interesting Features, Recommendation, Future Plans
  • on Apr 28 06 at 5:57, Emperor Wang validated this location
  • on Apr 24 06 at 18:56, ryan created a new gallery
  • on Apr 24 06 at 18:56, ryan created a new gallery
  • on Sep 28 05 at 14:19, Brooks updated gallery picture The carosel
  •  Forum Threads about this Location
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     SubjectStarted ByRepliesViewsLast Post
    You must log in for this feature to work.Great postblaistom77176312/18/2007 2:01 AM by UE TWF
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