Lotus Isle Amusement Park was an amusement park that operated from 1930 to 1932 on Tomahawk Island in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Known as the "Wonderland of the Pacific Northwest", Lotus Isle was located just east of the more successful

Jantzen Beach Jantzen Beach Amusement Park was a popular amusement park from 1928 to 1970 in Portland, Oregon, on Hayden Island in the middle of the Columbia River. ''"The Coney Island of the West"'' opened on May 26, 1928 as the largest amusement park in the ...

amusement park. Lotus Isle spread out over and at the time was Portland's largest amusement park.

History

Lotus Isle Amusement Park opened on June 28, 1930 after a group of investors realized the success of the nearby

Jantzen Beach Amusement Park Jantzen Beach Amusement Park was a popular amusement park from 1928 to 1970 in Portland, Oregon, on Hayden Island in the middle of the Columbia River. ''"The Coney Island of the West"'' opened on May 26, 1928 as the largest amusement park in the ...

. At the time of its opening, Lotus Isle was the largest amusement park in Oregon. The park consisted of forty attractions including

bumper cars Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. Bumpe ...

, a

rollercoaster 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 o ...

, and a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...

called the Peacock Ballroom. On August 28, 1930, an eleven-year-old boy drowned at the Lotus Isle beach after slipping from a ladder beneath the park's main diving board. Edwin F. Platt, the park's owner, committed suicide the day after the drowning. Platt "spent a fortune" in constructing Lotus Isle, which cost between $500,000 and $600,000. According to ''The Oregonian'', finances were given consideration in the inquiry following Platt's death. Business at the park had not been as brisk as its investors had hoped for, and it experienced "internal discord" such as the discharge of its manager, T. H. Eslick, who later sued the park for violating the agreement whereby he was brought on as manager. For the following season, a promoter named Al Painter took over management of the park, and created a "Dance-A-Thon" event in the park's Peacock Ballroom, which held room for 6,600 dancers. During this time,

John Ringling John Nicholas Ringling (May 31, 1866 – December 2, 1936) was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros World's Greatest Shows ...

sold Lotus Isle a temperamental bull elephant named "Tusko" who soon destroyed several pavilions after being spooked by a low-flying stunt plane. The elephant, which had previously rampaged through

Sedro-Woolley, Washington Sedro-Woolley is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Mount Vernon– Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area and had a population of 12,421 at the 2020 census. The city is home to North Cascade ...

, eventually ended up in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is a wildlife conservation organization and zoological garden located in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the recipient of over 65 awards across multiple categories, and had served appro ...

. On August 24, 1931, almost a year after the drowning and Platt's suicide, the Peacock Ballroom burned to the ground. The park operated once more in the 1932 season before going into bankruptcy, after which liquidation of the park property began.

Attractions

* "Whiz" - wood

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 o ...

* Alpine Scenic Railway * Bulldog Bumper Cars * neon Eiffel Tower sign at the entrance * 1914 Herschell-Spillman menagerie

merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

-- currently located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

References

External links

* {{coord, 45.610945, -122.673984, type:landmark_region:US-OR, display=title 1930 establishments in Oregon Amusement parks in Oregon Defunct amusement parks in the United States History of Portland, Oregon Hayden Island, Portland, Oregon Northeast Portland, Oregon 1932 disestablishments in Oregon

History

Attractions

See also

References

External links