Riverview Park
Main entrance to Riverview Park
Location3300 North Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Coordinates41°56′33″N 87°41′28″W / 41.9425320°N 87.6911674°W / 41.9425320; -87.6911674
StatusDefunct
OpenedJuly 2, 1904 (1904-07-02)
ClosedOctober 3, 1967 (1967-10-03)
Slogan
  • "Laugh Your Troubles Away!"
  • "Chicago's famous Amusement Park"
[1]

Riverview Park was an amusement park in Chicago, Illinois, which operated from 1904 to 1967. It was located on 74 acres (30 hectares) in an area bound on the south by Belmont Avenue, on the east by Western Avenue, on the north by Lane Tech College Prep High School, and on the west by the North Branch of the Chicago River.[2] It was located in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago's North Center community area.[3]

Founding

Riverview was established in 1904 by William Schmidt, on the grounds of his private skeet shooting range.[4] The Schmidt family owned and operated the park throughout its lifetime.

Riverview Park, Hell Gate scene, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1907-1914

"Big Bill" Haywood, the Industrial Workers of the World leader, once spoke here to a crowd of almost 80,000 people.[5]

Rides and attractions

Riverview was most known for The Bobs wooden roller coaster. Other popular coasters were The Comet, The Silver Flash, The Fireball and the Jetstream. Aladdin's Castle was a classic fun house with a collapsing stairway, mazes and turning barrel. Shoot the Chutes, Hades, the Rotor, Tilt-a-Whirl, Wild Mouse, the Mill on the Floss (Tunnel of Love), and Flying Turns were just a few of the many classic rides. "The Pair-O-Chutes at Riverview Park'll shake us up all day" is a line from the Beach Boys' song "Amusement Parks U.S.A." from their 1965 album, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). There were over 120 rides in the park.

Racism and closing

Riverview closed in 1967. Urban myths endure, describing the park's "seedy" atmosphere in the 1960s, as it coincidentally became more integrated.[6] Contemporaneous articles in black publications, such as the Chicago Defender, described black patrons being subject to both latent and overt racism; the most overt being a longstanding attraction named "Dunk the Nigger", later renamed "African Dip", which the NAACP successfully lobbied to shut down in the 1950s.[6] In 1966, when Martin Luther King visited Chicago, Mayor Richard J. Daley shut the park for several days, believing it would become a site of racial unrest.[6]

According to Victoria Wolcott, author of 2012 book Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters

“You see this thing a lot, when African Americans begin going in large numbers [to amusement parks], the parks are increasingly associated with danger and criminality...”[6]

Chuck Wlodarczyk, author of Riverview Gone But Not Forgotten, once performed shows about the park and reported people often approached him afterwards to report hearsay of someone raped in the park restrooms by a black man, however no actual record of these crimes exist.[6] A Chicago Tribune article from late 1967 also blames violence for the park's closure, however Wolcott says there is little evidence of increased violence at the park.[6]

Ultimately, white flight contributed to financial declines at the park, making the land upon which Riverview was built far more valuable than the park itself. The Schmidt family sold to developers and later stated a newspaper's reported estimated sale price of $6.8 million ($148,754,000 in 2022) was too low.[6]

The former grounds are now home to Riverview Plaza shopping center, the Chicago Police Area 3 Detective Division,[7] DePaul College Prep High School,[8] dental equipment manufacturer Hu-Friedy Manufacturing, and Richard Clark Park, part of the Chicago Park District. The south end of Clark Park has a wooded area where many of the Riverview Park foundations are still visible and is currently used as a bicycle dirt jump and pump track park maintained by the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers. A sculpture entitled Riverview by local artist Jerry Peart stands in front of the police station.

Memorabilia

Many items from Riverview, as well as many paintings portraying the park, were on display at Riverview Tavern, located on the corner of West Roscoe Street and Damen Avenue from 2005 to 2018.[9] The Riverview Carousel continues to operate at Six Flags Over Georgia.[10] It was the only ride to be saved.

Bally and Williams tie-ins

The 1972, Bally Manufacturing Corporation pinball machine Fireball was named after the park's Fireball roller coaster. Also, Bally's Aladdin's Castle amusement arcade division was renamed from Carousel Time to honor the closed Riverview Park and the Aladdin's Castle funhouse. Bally's Aladdin's Castle pinball machine was also inspired by the same funhouse at Riverview. The 1979 Williams Electronics' pinball game Flash as well as their 1985 Comet was named after the park's roller coasters with these names.[11] Bally Manufacturing Corporation and Williams Electronics, Inc. had their headquarters and primary manufacturing facilities just west of Riverview Park during the later years of the park's operating life.


List of Rides

Ride Year built Year closed Manufacturer and ride type Image Description
The Bobs 1924 1967 Wooden Roller Coaster
Comet 1967 Roller Coaster
Silver Flash 1967 Roller Coaster
Fireball 1923/1959 1967 Roller Coaster Originally this was the Blue Streak roller coaster. In 1959 first hill was modified and renamed the Fireball. The ride featured a steep drop that embarked into a tunnel.
Jetstream 1964 1967 Wooden Roller Coaster

Philadelphia Toboggan Company

 Jetstream replaced the ride Greyhound. It was not as popular as some of the more wild rides at the park. Jetstream was demolished before it was paid off.
Aladdin's Castle 1967 Fun house The mirrors are reportedly at a dance club in Palatine.
Shoot the Chutes 1967 Water Ride Old fashioned water ride
Hades Fun house
The Rotor 1952 1967 Orton, Sons & Spooner[12] The Rotor was a spinning ride where the floor dropped out from under riders. They were then held to the wall by centripetal force.
Tilt-a-Whirl Tilt-a-Whirl
Wild mouse Wild mouse coaster
Mill on the Floss 1967 Previously named Thousand Islands but later became Mill on the Floss. In 1950, it was renamed to The Tunnel of Love
Flying Turns 1934 1967 Wooden Bobsled ride Wooden bobsled run with steep turns. Moved from the Chicago World's fair in 1934 and opened the following season. Flying Bobs was removed with the park in 1967
Pair-O-Chutes 1937 1967 Originally called the Eye-Full. Spans added to tower to create the first free fall parachute ride. This ride lifted riders to the top of a tower before dropping carts attached to parachutes
Carousel 1908 1967 Carousel This 70-horse carousel was built in 1908. It is a PTC carousel and is one of only three remaining five-abreast carousels known to exist. In 1967, it was purchased and moved to Six Flags Over Georgia.
Coal-fired miniature steam engine train
Freak show 1950s Show A show that featured Betty Lou Williams, the world's only 4 legged girl, and magician Marshall Brodien who would go on to play Wizzo the Wizard in the famous "Bozo Show"
Flying scooter Looks almost like a hang glider
Boomerang
Strat-O-Stat
The Calypso
Flying Cars 1954 1966
Hot Rods 1955 1967
Ferris Wheel Ferris wheel Ferris wheel
Paratrooper 1960
Space Ride 1963 1967 Sky ride a $300,000 sky ride.
Bump 'Em Bumper Cars
Greyhound 1964 Roller coaster Was replaced by Jetstream
The Tickler 1910
Expo whirl 1910
Witching Waves 1910
Metrodome 1911
Velvet Coaster 1907 1919
Pikes Peak Scenic Railway 1907
Racetrack 1907

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Riverview Park (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 15 January 1980. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. ↑ Gale, Neil (January 16, 2017). "Riverview (Amusement) Park, 3300 North Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. (1904-1967)". The Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  3. ↑ Shaffer, Randi (October 4, 2017). "50 Years Later: A Timeline of Chicago's Riverview Park". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ Kogan, Rick. "Remembering Riverview Park, 50 years later". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  5. ↑ Rosemont, Franklin (2002) Joe Hill: The IWW & the Making of a Revolutionary Workingclass Culture, Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Heffernan, Shannon. "Laugh Your Troubles Away". wbez.org. National Public Radio. p. February 19, 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Chicago Police Reopen 2 Detective Headquarters In Hopes Of Solving More Crimes". Block Club Chicago. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  8. ↑ "DePaul College Prep acquires new campus". Crain's Chicago Business. 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  9. ↑ "The Reveler To Celebrate Grand Opening In Roscoe Village". North Center-Roscoe Village, IL Patch. 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  10. ↑ www.sixflags.com
  11. ↑ IPDB.org
  12. ↑ Canfield, Victor (2 July 2015). "Rotors". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

Further reading

  • Gee, Derek; Lopez, Ralph (2000). Laugh Your Troubles Away: The Complete History of Riverview Park, Chicago, Illinois. Livonia, MI: Sharpshooter Productions. ISBN 978-0967604510.
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