Pleasure Island 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

Wakefield, Massachusetts Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offer ...

. The park, billed as the "

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

of the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

", was in business from 1959 to 1969. During its short existence it went through several owners and was financially handicapped by

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

's relatively short summers. Pleasure Island whale

History

Pleasure Island was founded by William Hawkes, publisher of '' Child Life'' magazine,http://www.friendsofpleasureisland.org/tidbits/divider-628.jpg Pleasure Island entry in the 2001 edition of The International Resource Guide for Themed Entertainment and designed by Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood, a designer of Disneyland and

Lake Havasu City Lake Havasu City (, ) is a city in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,144, up from 52,527 in 2010. It is served by Lake Havasu City Airport. History The community first started as a ...

. Covering , the park featured a plethora of rides and other attractions, including the Space Rocket ride, the Pirate Ride, the

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

ride (which featured a spouting mechanical whale rising from the depths), the Wreck of the Hesperus (dark ride), the Old Chisholm Trail (dark ride), theme restaurants, a shopping area, an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

mini-golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

(from 1967), a

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in SA) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular pl ...

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

Island, and many others. Actors would stage mock gunfights in the Western City or threaten to attack riders on the boat rides. The park's Old Smokey Railroad Line was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad using equipment leased from the

Edaville Railroad Edaville Railroad (also branded Edaville USA and Edaville Family Theme Park) is a heritage railroad and amusement park in South Carver, Massachusetts, opened in 1947, and temporally closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The park was onl ...

. Another park feature was the Show Bowl, where performers such as

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

Michael Landon Michael Landon (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in '' Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in '' Little House on the P ...

, The Modernaires, the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeare ...

Clayton Moore Clayton Moore (born Jack Carlton Moore, September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999) was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character the Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1952 and 1953 to 1957 on the television series of the sa ...

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...

, and

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

appeared.

Product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

and

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

ing played a part in some attractions, such as the Grist Mill which featured

Pepperidge Farm Pepperidge Farm is an American commercial bakery founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's 123-acre farm property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which had been named for the pepperidge tree. A subsidiary of the Camp ...

products and the

Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

Diamond Lil Theater. Its cartoon character mascot for a time was

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum, located in

Alna, Maine Alna is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 710 at the 2020 census. Alna is home to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum and is noted for its historic architecture, including the early mill vill ...

. It has been rechristened the #10. As of December 10th of 2022, the Moby Dick animatronic was confirmed to still be in the pond. The Whale has sunken into it's tracks but is otherwise in decent condition.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkM-X8cyj9M&t=426s&ab_channel=sparkiegames

Attractions

Source: *Animal Land *Barn & Slide *Burro Trail *Camera Shop *Carousel *Chisolm Trail *Chowder House *Christmas Wonderland *Country Store *Covered Wagon *Dagett Chocolate Company's "Handspun" Shop *Engine City *Friend's Baked Beanery *Front Gate *Goldpan Gulch & Gold Panning Operation *Golf (18 hole mini-golf installed 1967) *Helicopter Ride *Heritage Museum *Hood's Gay Nineties Ice Cream Parlor *Horseless Carriage Ride originally "Jenney" *Indian Village *Kartland *Lighthouse *MagicLand: Crooked House - Slanted Shanty - Magnetic House - Captain's House *Moby Dick Ride *Merchants National Bank *Monkey Island *Pavilion *Pepperidge Farm Bakery *Picnic Area *Kaptain Kidd's Pirate Cove *Pirate Ride *Quannapowitt Publishers Print Shop *Old Smokey Railroad Line *Railroad Station (former Greenwood Depot) *Roundabout *Saloon, originally Pepsi-Cola's Diamond Lil Show *Shooting Gallery *Shopping Lane *Showbowl *Space Rocket *Stagecoach Ride *Swift and Company's great meat market *Treasure Digging Island *United Nations Theatre *Water Buffalo Land & Sea Ride *Western City *Wreck of the Hesperus

Pop culture

Certain scenes from the film

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on ''Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseque ...

were filmed at Pleasure Island.Tidbits , Pleasure Island, Wakefield, Massachusetts, 1959-1969
/ref> The ride "Wreck of the Hesperus" followed the theme from the poem

The Wreck of the Hesperus "The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in ''Ballads and Other Poems'' in 1842. It is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a skipper's pride. On an ill-fated voyag ...

written by American poet

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

Notes

External links

Friends of Pleasure Island web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleasure Island (Massachusetts Amusement Park) Amusement parks in Massachusetts Defunct amusement parks in the United States 1958 establishments in Massachusetts 1970 disestablishments in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Wakefield, Massachusetts Amusement parks opened in 1958 Amusement parks closed in 1970

History

Attractions

Pop culture

See also

Notes

External links