Harry C. Baker
   HOME
*





Harry C. Baker
Harry C. Baker (1886 or 1887 – August 23, 1939)Associated Press (August 24, 1939)"Roller Coaster Man Dies" ''The Des Moines Register''. p. 13. Retrieved April 12, 2021. was an American entrepreneur most notable for his involvement with the construction of roller coasters. Through partnerships and later, as president of the Harry C. Baker Company, Baker would be involved with notable designs such as the Cyclone at Coney Island, the Blue Streak at Woodcliffe Pleasure Park, and Jack Rabbit at Kennywood. Biography Baker was the former manager of Rexford Park, Schnectady, New York and served on the staff at Riverview Park in Chicago. From 1920 to 1923, Baker served as the Secretary and Treasurer of the John A. Miller-led Miller & Baker, Inc. Serving as office manager of the firm's Grand Central Terminal location, he was involved with the construction of over 40 coasters. In 1923, Baker went on to form his own company. In 1927, the Rosenthal brothers contracted with Baker's f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Roller Coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are often found in amusement parks and theme parks around the world. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, related to the Switchback Railway that opened a year earlier at Coney Island. The track in a coaster design does not necessarily have to be a complete circuit, as shuttle roller coasters demonstrate. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained. Two or more cars hooked together are called a train. Some roller coasters, notably Wild Mouse roller coasters, run with single cars. History The Russian mountain and the Aerial Promenades The oldest roller coasters are believed to have originated from the so-called "Russian Mountains", speciall ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Seabreeze Amusement Park
Seabreeze Amusement Park (Seabreeze) is a historic family amusement park located in Irondequoit, New York, a suburb of Rochester, where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario. According to the National Amusement Park Historical Association (NAPHA), Seabreeze is the fourth-oldest operating amusement park in the United States and the thirteenth-oldest operating amusement park in the world, having opened in 1879. The park features roller coasters, a variety of other rides, a midway, and a water park. History In the 1870s, the lakeshore of Lake Ontario became a tourist destination for residents of the city of Rochester. Several hotels opened at the port of Charlotte and along Irondequoit Bay to entertain summer visitors, and rail lines were built from the city to both destinations. In 1879, the Rochester and Lake Ontario Railroad Company built a line from Portland Avenue in Rochester to the Sea Breeze neighborhood at the inlet of the bay. The company purchased fifty acres to op ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Amusement Ride Manufacturers
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or animal actively maintains the experience, and is associated with enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure. It is an emotion with positive valence and high physiological arousal. Amusement is considered an "epistemological" emotion because humor occurs when one experiences a cognitive shift from one knowledge structure about a target to another, such as hearing the punchline of a joke. The pleasant surprise that happens from learning this new information leads to a state of amusement which people often express through smiling, laughter or chuckling. Current studies have not yet reached consensus on the exact purpose of amusement, though theories have been advanced in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and sociology. In addition, the precise mechanism that causes a given element (image, sound, behavior, etc.) to be perceived as more or less 'amusing' than another simil ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Six Flags New England
Six Flags New England, formerly known as Gallup's Grove (1870–1886), Riverside Grove (1887–1911), Riverside Park (1912–1995) and Riverside: The Great Escape (1996–2000), is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts. Opening in the late 19th century, it is the oldest amusement park in the Six Flags chain, acquired by Six Flags#History of Premier Parks, Premier Parks in 1996 and rebranded Six Flags New England in 2000. Superman The Ride is among the park's most notable rides, having appeared as a highly ranked roller coaster in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from ''Amusement Today'' since the ride opened in 2000. History Throughout much of the 20th century, the park was known as Riverside Park. It began as a picnic grove in 1870 named Gallup's Grove. It was briefly changed to Riverside Grove, and then eventually Riverside Park in 1912. Prior to 1900, most of the park's patrons arrived via steamship. The Springfield ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Harry Traver
Harry Guy Traver (November 25, 1877 – September 27, 1961) was an American engineer and early roller coaster designer. As the founder of the Traver Engineering Company, Traver was responsible for the production of gentle amusement rides like the Tumble Bug and Auto Ride. His roller coasters became legendary for their unique twisted layouts and thrilling, swooped turns. At a time when most coasters were built from wood, Traver was the first coaster builder to utilize steel for the primary structural material. He also built the first motorized fire engine in New York City. Biography Traver was born in Gardner, Illinois on November 25, 1877, and graduated from Davenport High School in Davenport, Nebraska in 1894. After teaching for three years in the western part of the United States, he took a job with General Electric in 1898, working for the company at the Omaha Exhibition that year. Subsequently employed by the Harris Safety Co. in New York City as a superintendent, he bega ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons. It was the first exposition to be based on the future, with an opening slogan of "Dawn of a New Day", and it allowed all visitors to take a look at "the world of tomorrow". When World War II began four months into the 1939 World's Fair, many exhibits were affected, especially those on display in the pavilions of countries under Axis occupation. After the close of the fair in 1940, many exhibits were demolished or removed, though some buildings were retained for the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, held at the same site. Planning In 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, a group of New Yo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Revere Beach
Revere Beach is a public beach in Revere, Massachusetts, located about north of downtown Boston. The beach is over long. In 1875, a rail link was constructed to the beach, leading to its increasing popularity as a summer recreation area, and in 1896, it became the first public beach in the United States. It is still easily accessible by the MBTA Blue Line from Boston, and can accommodate as many as one million visitors in a weekend during its annual sand sculpture competition. History Colonial to early development In the 1620s, the area was first traversed by Europeans settlers. Within the decade, the area thrived as a farming community and after being annexed to Chelsea, Massachusetts from Boston, Massachusetts, the area became known as Chelsea Beach. In 1875, the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad, known as the "Narrow Gauge", came to Chelsea Beach, making it easily accessible to visitors from Boston and elsewhere. Various beach-related and recreational buildings spran ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Idora Park (Youngstown)
Idora Park (1899–1984) was a northeastern Ohio amusement park popularly known as "Youngstown's Million Dollar Playground." Built by the Youngstown Park and Falls Street Railway Company, the park's expansion coincided with the growth of the South Side of Youngstown, Ohio, in the Fosterville neighborhood. Prior to its closure in the wake of a devastating fire, Idora Park was one of the nation's few remaining urban amusement parks. Opening and early development The park opened as Terminal Park on May 30, 1899, which was Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day). At that time in America, it was common for amusement parks called trolley parks to sprout at the end of trolley lines to generate weekend revenue. Without an admission fee, anyone who could afford the trolley fare could enter the park. This trolley park's first season presented its guests a bandstand, theater, dance pavilion, a roller coaster, a circle swing, and concession stands. It was later renamed Idora Park. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Herbert Schmeck
Herbert Paul Schmeck (born 1890 in Reading, Pennsylvania, died 1956) was an American roller coaster designer. From 1923 to 1955, Schmeck designed 84 coasters for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. As a designer and president, the company became the most prominent manufacturer of roller coasters in the United States. Schmeck originally worked as a carpenter for the Reading Furniture Works, before he was hired to work on a construction crew for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. He was offered more jobs when his work ethic impressed company owners. He served as a foreman at Paragon Park on Nantasket Beach in 1916. There he worked with designer John A. Miller on the construction of " The Giant Coaster." He continued to work with the Philadelphia Tobaggan Company assisting with the construction of coasters. Despite no formal training as an engineer, Schmeck learned to design rides by studying blueprints and with his construction knowledge. In 1923 Schmeck designed his first coaster, t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Libertyland
Libertyland was an amusement park located in Memphis, Tennessee. Opened on July 4, 1976, it was located at 940 Early Maxwell Blvd. It was structured under the nonprofit 501(c)4 US tax code. It closed due to financial reasons in 2005. History Libertyland opened as an amusement park on the Mid-South Fairgrounds on July 4, 1976. Before then, the fair had operated on the land, including the Coaster Pippin renamed Zippin Pippin with the opening of Libertyland and the Grand Carousel. The city of Memphis decided it was time for a theme park for the city. It opened in 1976 with several rides, including the pre-existing rides that had operated in that place before. The Zippin Pippin was widely popular as it was Elvis Presley's favorite wooden roller coaster. In fact, on August 8, 1977, just eight days before his death, Elvis rented Libertyland as a gift for his 9 year old daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. From 1 am until dawn, Elvis, Lisa Marie, Elvis' then-fiance Ginger Alden and about a d ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

East End Park
East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship side, Dunfermline Athletic The stadium currently comprises four stands: the East Stand (currently sponsored by SQMC), the Main Stand (currently sponsored by srj windows), the North Stand and the Norrie McCathie Stand. The stadium is all seater and has under-soil heating. History East End Park was first used in 1885, the same year as the club was formed. The original stadium was situated slightly to the west. In 1920, the Board of Directors purchased of land from the North British Railway company for £3,500, and the present position of the ground was laid out. A wooden stand with a low roof and a pavilion were built on the southern side, backing onto Halbeath Road ( A907). Terrace banks were extended to give a capacity of 16,000 when the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bay Beach Amusement Park
Bay Beach is a municipal amusement park in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Situated near the mouth of the Fox River, on the east bank as it flows into Green Bay, the park contains rides, concessions, a roller coaster, and a food pavilion. Dances, movies, and other events are held in a pavilion. The park is adjacent to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. History The park's history dates to the 1890s when entrepreneur Mitchell Nejedlo purchased the land. Originally intended to be divided and sold for summer cottages, he turned it into Bay View Beach. Bay View Beach had a dance hall, a bar, and a bathhouse, however, because it was swampy and infested with mosquitoes, the park didn't attract many visitors. In 1908 Captain John Cusick bought the resort from Nejedlo. Cusick built an 8-foot dock that extended 570 feet into the bay, then bought a steamboat to transport customers from Walnut Street Bridge to Bay View Beach. When swimming became popular, Cusick began renting swimsuits for $0.10. On ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]