Wonderland was a beachfront amusement park in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from 1913 to 1916. It was the first amusement park in San Diego. The amusement park was built on or near the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

beach by the Ocean Bay Beach Amusement Center, owned by Herbert P. Snow and managed by Bert Snow. It opened on July 4, 1913 to a crowd of more than 20,000. It featured the largest

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 ...

on the

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, called the Blue Streak Racer, as well as 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 ...

, water slide, and carnival games. A

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern Zoo, zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to ...

featured "lions, bears, leopards, wolves, mountain lions, a hyena, and 56 varieties of monkeys". Additional amusements were a dance hall, bowling alley, roller skating rink, and salt-water bathing plunge. Patrons were dazzled by the 22,000 tungsten lights which illuminated the park and by the entrance gate with its towering minarets. The amusement park helped to put the community of Ocean Beach on the map for San Diegans. The formerly -hour trip to the beach from central San Diego had been reduced to a 40-minute trolley ride in 1909 by the construction of the Point Loma Railroad by developer D. C. Collier. The park thrived for two seasons, but saw a massive drop-off in attendance in 1915 due to the opening of the

Panama California Exposition Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

in Balboa Park. The park fell into foreclosure and was sold at auction in March 1915. In January 1916, storm tides undermined the roller coaster, which had to be closed. It was dismantled and eventually shipped to Santa Monica's

Pleasure Pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

. The rest of the park was also destroyed by winter storms and was eventually demolished.

Legacy

The menagerie was rented to the

in Balboa Park during its run (1915–16); the animals were eventually sold to the fledgling

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...

. A

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public television series about the history and neighborhoods of San Diego is called ''Wonderland'' after the amusement park. In 2013, to mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the amusement park, the annual Ocean Beach Street Fair featured a "Wonderland" theme, and a restaurant called "Wonderland" opened in Ocean Beach, with decor focusing on local history.Wonderland restaurant/tavern making a splash with its view, historic theme
The Beacon, September 4, 2013

References

{{Defunct Amusement Parks in California Defunct amusement parks in California History of San Diego Ocean Beach, San Diego Event venues established in 1913 1913 establishments in California 1916 disestablishments in California