Oaks Park is a small
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 south of downtown
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 ...
, United States. The park opened in May 1905 and is one of the oldest continually operating amusement parks in the country.
The park includes
midway games
Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
, about two dozen rides that operate seasonally, a
skating rink that is open all-year, and picnic grounds. It is also home to the
Herschell–Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel, a historic wooden
carousel
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 ...
constructed in 1912.
History
The park, conceived as an attraction timed to accompany the 1905
Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portlan ...
, was built by the
Oregon Water Power and Railway Company and opened on May 30, 1905, during a period when
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 ...
s were often constructed along
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 are ...
lines. It attracted 300,000 visitors during its first season, and continued to attract about that many patrons throughout its first decade of existence. Describing the
moral panic
A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...
of working-class entertainment venues opened at the time, a city council member described Oaks Park as "an immoral place" with "more drunkenness there than he had seen at any place in the City."
In the early 1920s, the park was sold to John Cordray, one of its managers. After Cordray died in 1925, Edward Bollinger, Oaks Park's superintendent, bought all but the land from Cordray's widow; Bollinger acquired the land in 1943. Some of the park's earliest rides included Chute the Chutes, a chute ride that whisked the riders down a steep incline plunging into a small man-made lake; the Barrel of Fun, a
funhouse
A funhouse or fun house is an amusement facility found on amusement park and funfair midways and is where patrons encounter and interact with various devices designed to surprise, challenge, and amuse them. Unlike thrill rides or dark rides, f ...
which included screaming skeletons,
mazes of mirrors, and dark dead-end hallways; and the Mystic River Ride, a boat ride that traveled through darkened tunnels.
The park also featured a floating
bathhouse
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
anchored along the river at the south end of the park, as well as a dance
pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
, which attracted famous acts from around the world, including the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
, the
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...
Marching Band, and
Patrick Conway
Patrick "Patsy" Conway (July 4, 1865 – June 10, 1929) was a prominent American bandleader during the golden era of professional bands. He often was referred to as Pat Conway or Patsy Conway.
Early life
Conway was born in Troy, New York, but mo ...
and his Band.
In 1948, the
Vanport flood submerged Oaks Park for thirty days, killing a third of the bluff's oak trees, warping most of the rides, and resulting in damage to the rink that took five months to repair; the next year, Bollinger's son Robert took over after his father's death. The damage prompted the owners to rebuild the rink floor on airtight iron barrels, which would float in the event of another flood; the floats worked as planned during the area's
Christmas flood of 1964
The Christmas flood of 1964 was a major flood in the United States' Pacific Northwest and some of Northern California between December 18, 1964, and January 7, 1965, spanning the Christmas holiday.
Considered a 100-year flood,
it was the wor ...
and the
Willamette Valley Flood of 1996.
For many years, three
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s were kept at the park, on static display. These included
Southern Pacific 4449
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being " GS-6" ...
, from 1958 to 1974;
Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700
Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the oldest and only surviving example of the class " E-1" 4-8-4 " Northern" type steam locomotive and the only surviving original Spokane, Portland and Seattle steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Lo ...
, from 1958 to 1986; and
Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. 197, from 1958 to 1996. Although no longer at Oaks Park, the three locomotives all remain in Portland, and since 2012 they are residing at the
Oregon Rail Heritage Center
The Oregon Rail Heritage Center (ORHC) is a railway museum in Portland, Oregon. Along with other rolling stock, the museum houses three steam locomotives owned by the City of Portland: Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700, an ...
. Two years after the
Jantzen Beach Amusement Park closed in 1970, the ''
Oregon Journal
''The Oregon Journal'' was Portland, Oregon's daily afternoon newspaper from 1902 to 1982. The ''Journal'' was founded in Portland by C. S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of Pendleton, Oregon's ''East Oregonian'' newspaper, after a group of Portlander ...
'' reported Oaks Park "may be on the verge of a renaissance"; three years later Sellwood's local newspaper, ''The Bee'', reported "30,000 people a month still come during the summer."
In 1985, Robert Bollinger donated Oaks Amusement Park to the 501(c)(3) non-profit Oaks Park Association, which continues to operate the park to this day. The mission of the Oaks Park Association is ''the preservation and perpetuation of the historic amusement park as an affordable, safe, and family-friendly recreation attraction open to the general public.''
The park gained recognition for its appearance in ''
Free Willy
''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures ...
''. Many of the current and former attractions like Screamin' Eagle appeared in the movie as do the trailer Randolph reside while the roller skating rink served as the entrance to the aquatic theater where Willy was held captive in a tank which was actually shot at
Six Flags México
Six Flags México is a amusement park located in the Tlalpan forest and borough, on the southern edge of Mexico City, Mexico. It is owned and operated by Six Flags, and is the most visited theme park in Latin America with 2.8 million annual visi ...
(formerly
Reino Aventura
Reino Aventura ("Adventure Kingdom" in Spanish) was an amusement park located in Tlalpan in the south-western part of Mexico City. It opened to the public in March 1982 as the biggest amusement park in Latin America.
History
The park was close ...
) in Mexico.
The park celebrated 100 years of continuous operation in 2005, making it among the oldest in the U.S.
Attractions
Current attractions
![Amusement park ride](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Amusement_park_ride.jpg)
Park rides and midway games are open weekends during spring and daily during summer. Rides include the following:
Roller coasters
South End
East End
North End
*Chipper's Woods Miniature Golf (new for 2011)
Roller skating rink
The park includes a wooden
roller skating
Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...
rink, open year-round. The rink has had a
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
for most of its history; since 1955 it has been a
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
model with four
manuals, moved to the rink from its previous home at Portland's Broadway Theatre,
where it had been installed in 1926. All pipework for the organ is mounted on a platform hanging over the skate floor.
Former rides
*The
Zip, one of Harry Traver's famous
Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters were a model line of roller coasters designed and marketed by Harry Traver and his company Traver Engineering in the 1920s. Despite their name, they had a reputation of being dangerous and are regarded by many historian ...
, operated at Oaks Park from 1927 to 1934.
*Scenic Railway, a wooden roller coaster that closed in 1935.
*Mad Mouse, a
wild mouse roller coaster
A wild mouse is a type of roller coaster consisting of single or spinning cars traversing a tight-winding track with an emphasis on sharp, unbanked turns. The upper portion of the track usually features multiple 180-degree turns, known as flat ...
that operated from 1960 to 1976.
*Monster Mouse, a wild mouse roller coaster that operated from 1977 to 1995.
*Looping Thunder (steel looping roller coaster manufactured by
Pinfari
F.lli Pinfari S.r.l was an Italian amusement ride manufacturing company based in Suzzara, Italy. Pinfari was liquidated on 15 July 2004, due to the early 2000s recession and the weakness of the United States dollar. In 2007, its brand and intelle ...
). Looping Thunder closed in 2017 to make way for a new
Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter
The Euro-Fighter is a type of steel roller coaster developed by Gerstlauer. First launched in 2003, the trademark feature of the roller coaster is its beyond-vertical drop, which reaches an angle greater than 90 degrees. Although the majority of E ...
Roller coaster.
*The Haunted Mine, a dark spook-house ride, replaced in 2003 by 'Lewis and Clark: The Big Adventure', which closed in 2013
*
Screamin' Eagle
Screamin' Eagle is a wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri. When it opened on April 10, 1976 for America's Bicentennial celebration, Guinness World Records listed it as the largest coaster at high and as the ...
(a
KMG Fireball).
See also
*
Jantzen Beach Amusement Park
*
Lotus Isle
*
Springwater Corridor
The Springwater Corridor Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian rail trail in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It follows a former railway line from Boring through Gresham to Portland, where it ends south of the Eastbank Es ...
, the former rail line that served the park, now a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
External links
The park's website*
at PdxHistory.com
{{Authority control
1905 establishments in Oregon
Amusement parks in Oregon
History of Portland, Oregon
Landmarks in Oregon
Parks in Portland, Oregon
Sellwood-Moreland, Portland, Oregon
Tourist attractions in Portland, Oregon
Willamette River