Silver Beach County Park is a
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
located in
St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore o ...
at the mouth of the
St. Joseph River.
It was formerly Silver Beach Amusement Park, 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 ...
, which operated between 1891 and 1971.
History
Silver Beach opened as a resort in 1891 when local businessmen in
boat building
Boat building is the design and construction of boats and their systems. This includes at a minimum a hull, with propulsion, mechanical, navigation, safety and other systems as a craft requires.
Construction materials and methods
Wood
W ...
Logan Drake and Louis D. Wallace built vacation cottages as Silver Beach Amusement and Realty Company along
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
. Construction of buildings such as a pavilion followed and were completed in 1896.
After the park was established, two of the earliest aviators,
Augustus Moore Herring
Augustus Moore Herring (August 3, 1867 – July 17, 1926) was an American aviation pioneer, who sometimes is claimed by Michigan promoters to be the first true aviator of a motorized heavier-than-air aircraft.
Biography
Herring was born in ...
and
Logan Archbold Vilas, used the beach to experiment with aircraft, the latter being the first person to fly across Lake Michigan when he flew from Silver Beach to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
The first roller coaster, Chase through the Clouds, opened in 1905; it was replaced in 1923 by another coaster, the Velvet (later "the Comet"). Also added in 1905 were a roller rink, with a pipe organ included in 1906, both firsts in the region, and a boxing ring, with matches organized by boxer
Tommy Ryan
Tommy Ryan (born Joseph Youngs; March 31, 1870 – August 3, 1948) was an American World Welterweight and World Middleweight boxing champion who fought from 1887 to 1907. His simultaneously holding records in both weight classes was a rar ...
. A dance hall opened in 1907, replaced by the Shadowland Ballroom in 1927; performers would include the founders of
MCA Inc.
MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film ind ...
, founded after Drake encouraged two performers to create the endeavor. In the ensuing decades, the park expanded, including the additions of a ferris wheel, miniature train, children's amusement ride area, and miniature golf course, and maintained continued popularity due in part to the owners providing
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
access from Chicago. In what has become an icon of Silver Beach, a
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 ...
had been added by 1916, taking advantage of the enlarged area of beach sand created by Lake Michigan in the years during the park's operation.
Silver Beach's success continued until the 1960s, when crime and unrest became much more common, and closed on August 10, 1970, due to the escalating problems including a violent incident on July 4, 1969. The park attempted to recover but did not reopen after the 1971 season. Rides and attractions were sold and the amusement park was abandoned; the remaining structures were demolished starting in 1975.
LECO Corporation
LECO Corporation, founded in 1936 by Carl Schultz and George Krasl, operates its analytical instrumentation research and development, and manufacturing from its headquarters located in St. Joseph, Michigan. LECO develops and manufactures element ...
bought the property on November 22, 1977;
Berrien County bought it from LECO on December 14, 1990, and now operates it as Silver Beach County Park.
From 1979 to 2011, Silver Beach hosted the
Venetian Festival Venetian Festival is the name of a festival held in cities in Europe and North America. They are based on carnival, or carnevale, the period just before Lent, as celebrated in the 17th century in Venice, Italy. Venetian festivals re-create the fant ...
.
Silver Beach Carousel
In 1997, the Silver Beach Carousel Society was founded with the goal of returning the original carousel to its location at Silver Beach, but they were unable to secure funding before the carousel was sold to a group of businessmen in Washington State who placed it in the
Southridge Sports and Events Complex
The Southridge Sports and Events Complex is a development on the south side of Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick in the U.S. State of Washington (state), Washington. It is adjacent to U.S. Route 395 in Washington, U.S. Route 395 between 27th and H ...
in
Kennewick
Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the C ...
.
The society was determined to build a new carousel near Silver Beach County Park and, in 2010, the new Silver Beach Carousel opened its doors. The new carousel is accompanied by exhibits from the Silver Beach Amusement Park, a Kid's Discovery Zone hosted by St. Joseph's Curious Kids Museum, the Whirlpool Compass Fountain and the Shadowland Ballroom, which hosts wedding receptions and other special occasions.
References
Further reading
External links
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Parks in Michigan
Defunct amusement parks in Michigan
1891 establishments in Michigan
Buildings and structures in Berrien County, Michigan
1971 disestablishments in Michigan