Adventureland was an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

located in

Addison, Illinois Addison is a village located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 36,942 at the 2010 census. History The community itself was originally named Dunkley's Grove after the settler Hezekia ...

which operated from 1961 to 1977. The land where the park is located was originally a restaurant and tavern known as Paul's Picnic Grove and, from 1958 to 1961, was a family attraction site known as Storybook Park. From 1967 to 1976, it was the largest amusement park in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Attractions at the park included Dizzy Hofbrauhaus, Scrambler, Crash 'n Splash Torpedo Tubs, Western Round-Up, Bumper Cars, Italian Bobs, which reached 35 ft. high, and Super Italian Bobs, which reached 60 ft. The park offered parking for 3,000 cars.

History

The former Storybook Park was sold to Durell Everding, whose family also owned Santa's Village (now

Santa's Village AZoosment Park Santa's Village Amusement & Water Park (formerly known and colloquially referred to this day as simply Santa's Village) is a theme park in East Dundee, Illinois. It was originally built by Glenn Holland, who also built two other Santa's Villages ...

) in 1961 and renamed Adventureland. Some attractions from Storybook Park were kept, but the new owner began to focus on adding more rides to the park to attract older visitors as well. Owner Durell Everding died in 1970 and the park was run by his family until it was later purchased by Medinah Investors. The park closed in 1977 as the result of competition from newer parks; the park's rides and attractions were sold off upon the park's closing. Since the park's closing, Medinah Road on the site's east side was re-routed through part of the property. The Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago building now occupies most of the site, although aerial views show evidence of the park's trails, while

urban explorers Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inter ...

have reported finding remains of park buildings and ride foundations on the site.

References

External links

Pictures of Adventureland

Bloomingdale Library Picture Archives
*{{RCDB, 5369, Adventureland Defunct amusement parks in the United States Addison, Illinois 1961 establishments in Illinois 1977 disestablishments in Illinois Buildings and structures in DuPage County, Illinois Amusement parks in Illinois Amusement parks closed in 1977 Amusement parks opened in 1961