Manhattan Beach was a former amusement park in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, USA, (1881-1914). It was built near Denver on the shore of

Sloan's Lake Sloan's Lake, also known as Sloan Lake and Sloans Lake, is a body of water, park, and neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, US. The neighborhood is located on the northwest side of Denver. The lake is the central feature of Sloan's Lake Park, which i ...

Edgewater, Colorado The City of Edgewater is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 5,005 at the 2020 United States Census. Edgewater is surrounded by Denver to the east, Lakewood to the south and wes ...

, and was the first amusement park created west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

.A Brief History of Sloan's Lake
- Sloan's Century Open to the public for the first time on 27 June 1881,Pam Grout, ''Colorado Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff'' (Globe Pequot 2006) it had a roller coaster, a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for 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 cities in ...

, a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

, boating attractions,

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 ...

rides,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

bears,

contortionist Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other li ...

s, aerial acts (including a

human cannonball The human cannonball act is a performance in which a person who acts as the "cannonball" is ejected from a specially designed cannon. The human cannonball lands on a horizontal net or inflated bag placed at the landing point, as predicted by phys ...

), a man who walked on ceilings, and exhibits displaying more than 40 species of animals, but its primary draw was Roger the Elephant (real name: Rajah), who was a popular children's ride.Edgewater history
- Jefferson County Public Schools - Jefferson County, Colorado Visitors reached the park by

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 ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

s, and

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

s. A large theater at the park was opened on June 27, 1891. It featured everything from

light opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. While Manhattan Beach was a popular destination, competition (from nearby

Elitch Gardens Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood in northwest Denver, Colorado, United States, at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the m ...

and White City, the latter eventually becoming

Lakeside Amusement Park Lakeside Amusement Park is a family-owned amusement park in Lakeside, Colorado, adjacent to Denver. Originally named White City, it was opened in 1908 as a popular amusement resort adjacent to Lake Rhoda by the Denver Tramway, making it a tro ...

) and mishaps marked its existence. Roger the Elephant was spooked by the sound of a hot-air balloon, bucked passengers and stepped on the head of a six-year-old boy; George W. Eaton (son of Pressley Jr. and Harriett Eaton, brother of Clayton Arnold "Jack" Eaton). In 1908, Manhattan Beach was damaged by

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...

; later that year, it was rebuilt and reopened as Luna Park. It closed for the final time in 1914.

References

Defunct amusement parks in the United States 1881 establishments in Colorado 1914 disestablishments in Colorado Geography of Denver {{Colorado-stub