Chutes Park in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

began as a

trolley park Trolley may refer to: Vehicles and components * Tram, or trolley or streetcar, a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks * Trolleybus, or trolley, an electric bus drawing power from overhead wires using trolley poles ** Trolleytruck, a trolleyb ...

in 1887. It was a amusement park bounded by Grand Avenue on the west, Main Street on the east, Washington Boulevard on the north and 21st Street on the south. At various times it included rides, animal exhibits, a theater and a baseball park. In 1910 the park was sold to new owners (including

Frederick Ingersoll Frederick Ingersoll (1876 – October 23, 1927) was an American inventor, designer, builder and entrepreneur who created the world's first chain of amusement parks (known collectively as "Luna Parks" regardless of their actual name) and whose man ...

) and reopened as

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-s ...

. The amusement park closed in 1914. The name Chutes Park was also applied to the baseball park which opened around 1900 and was the original home of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

of the Pacific Coast League.

History

David V. Waldron bought about at Washington and Main and began to develop the property in 1887. It had previously been the site of a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

. He also made a business arrangement to establish a horse-drawn rail line to connect to the city

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

lines because the location was outside of the Los Angeles city limits. He began weekly

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

in a small pavilion, brought in animals for display, and planted an

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

grove. Unfortunately, the park was allowed to decline and by the late 1890s was seldom used. In 1899, however, the property was sold to new owners which created the Los Angeles County Improvement Co. They built a new theater, baseball park and brought in new rides.

The rides

The park featured such rides as a roller coaster, a chutes water slide that dropped riders in boats from a tower into a manmade lake, and a

miniature railroad Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcar ...

. The park's merry-go-round was electrically powered, as was the engine that pulled the boats back up from the lake to the tower. In October 1903, the operators added a steel-framed figure-eight roller coaster.

Attractions

Chutes amusement ride and theater, view 1 (00037581)

The site also included, at various times, such exotic diversions as a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

pond,

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...

es, House of Trouble, and Cave of the Winds. By 1901, it also had a 4,000-seat

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and a baseball park that seated 10,000. The Los Angeles County Improvement Co. added a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

pond, a small

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

hot-air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

rides, the Catalina Marine Band, and a small railroad that followed the outer perimeter of the park.

The baseball park

By 1900, the baseball diamond was completed on the northern end of the park (Washington bordering the third base line), with a team to play in the new California League. It would be the first team to be called the Los Angeles Angels.Weiss, Bill & Marshall Wright
''TEAM #29 1903 LOS ANGELES ANGELS (133 - 78)''
Minor League Baseball: History. Retrieved 27 July 2007. It was also home of the

Vernon Tigers The Vernon Tigers were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Vernon, California in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the Sacramento Solons ...

. Following games, a gate in the center field fence was opened and fans were allowed to enter the theme park. The Chutes Park ballfield was also sometimes called Washington Park. It was replaced by what the newspapers termed a "new" Washington Park in 1911, which had been built just south and east of the old one, and overlaying both the old outfield and the former waterslide area. The new ballpark was expanded for the 1913 season, supplanting most if not all of the former amusement park. The Chutes / Washington area was abandoned entirely when the Angels moved to

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

at 42nd Street and Avalon Boulevard. The Chutes Park site is now occupied by the Metropolitan Courthouse of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, as well as commercial space and parking lots.

Sources

* Berman, Jay and Sesar Carreno. "The Short Life of a Downtown Amusement Park," ''Los Angeles Downtown News,'' 9/4/2006 *Stanton, Jeffrey. 2005
''Chutes & Luna Park - 1900 - 1912''
Retrieved 27 July 2007 *''Take Me Out to the Ball Park'', Lowell Reidenbaugh,

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

, 1983 & 1987, p. 138-142 *''Ballparks of North America'', Michael Benson, McFarland, 1989, p. 209

References

External links

*
LAistory: Chutes Park
- LAist.com
Chutes Park shown on Sanborn map, 1907
{{coord, 34.030773, -118.267197, display=t, type:landmark Defunct amusement parks in California American football venues in Los Angeles Baseball venues in Los Angeles Los Angeles Angels (PCL) stadiums Defunct minor league baseball venues Demolished sports venues in California Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles History of Los Angeles South Los Angeles Sports venues in Los Angeles USC Trojans football venues