Lakeside Amusement Park 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

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combin ...

, neighboring Roanoke, at the intersection of

U.S. Route 460 U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is a spur route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View to Frankfort, Kentucky, intersecting its parent route once ...

(East Main Street in Salem) and State Route 419 (Electric Road in Salem). The park was named after a very large (300 feet long, 125 feet wide) swimming pool which was opened on the site in 1920. The pool was surrounded by a beach and quickly became a favorite summer retreat for residents of Roanoke and Salem. Amusement park rides were added to the facility within a few years of its opening. The park also included a

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 hosted celebrity concerts. Frequent performers included

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

artists

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

and

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

. Nearby

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional pr ...

also had use of the park when it was closed in the winter as an area for its men's lacrosse team to use for practice.

Decline and closure

The pool eventually declined in popularity as home swimming pools became popular and after courts mandated

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

. In 1967, the pool was filled in as part of an expansion project, the highlight of which was a new

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also b ...

named the Shooting Star, which replaced the Wildcat. Lakeside remained a popular destination through the 1970s and early 1980s, though larger parks such as

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 ri ...

and

Busch Gardens Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously B ...

were beginning to draw away visitors. Nearby Masons Creek inundated the park during the flood of November 1985. Somewhat surprisingly, the park was able to repair the damage and even construct new attractions for the 1986 season. Unfortunately, that year a maintenance worker, a 19-year old named Tom Austin, was struck and killed by the roller coaster, due to the noise of a weed trimmer preventing him from hearing the roller coaster as it came down a hill at a high speed, during a test run. The park's updates had failed to reverse the decline in attendance and revenues. The park also occupied a very valuable parcel of real estate at the intersection of two highways only a mile south of

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...

. Lakeside Amusement Park closed its gates for the last time on October 19, 1986.

Aftermath

Within a few years, the site was the location of a

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

, named Lakeside Plaza, with

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and several other stores and restaurants. This neighborhood of Salem is still commonly referred to as Lakeside and several churches and businesses bear the name. The closure of Lakeside led to the creation of the Salem Fair in 1988. This event, which has free admission, runs annually for ten days in late June to early July. Estimated attendance in most years averages around 300,000, which makes it the second largest

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

in Virginia, trailing only the

State Fair of Virginia The State Fair of Virginia is a state fair held annually at the end of September at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia, Doswell, Virginia. Through 2008, the fair was held at the Richmond International Raceway, Richmond Raceway Complex, ...

Doswell, Virginia Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad (later, part of the C&O) at a crossing of t ...

Rides as of 1985

*Shooting Star – John Allen Out and Back Roller Coaster *Astro Liner – Motion Simulator *

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, capsules ...

–

Eli Bridge Eli Bridge Company is a family-owned amusement ride manufacturer headquartered in Jacksonville, Illinois, U.S. History W. E. Sullivan, owner of Eli Bridge Company in Illinois, rode the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel at the World's Columbi ...

Ferris wheel *Western Railroad –

Crown Metal Products Crown Metal Products was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock based in Wyano, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Ken Williams in 1946 and initially sold pot cleaners and then electric fence wires and other products. In 1959, the compan ...

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 ...

.Surviving Steam Locomotive Search
/ref> Steam Train now at

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park located in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Located approximately northwest of Virgini ...

. *

Paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

– Paratrooper Ride *Monster – Eyerly Monster *Mini

Firetruck A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an i ...

s – Kiddie Ride *Mini Cars – Kiddie Ride *Horse Carts – Kiddie Ride *Scooters – Kiddie Ride *

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

Ships – Kiddie Ride *

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 ...

*Casino – A Trabant Ride *Scrambler –

Scrambler *

Tilt-A-Whirl Tilt-A-Whirl is a flat ride similar to the Waltzer in Europe, designed for commercial use at amusement parks, fairs, and carnivals, in which it is commonly found. The rides are manufactured by Larson International of Plainview, Texas. Descript ...

*Avalanche – Flying Bobs Ride *

Bumper Car Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. Bumpe ...

s *Flying Scooters *Giant Slide * Paddle Boats *Junior Ferris wheel *Skyway *Spider *Cloud Nine *Umbrellas *The Whip

Former rides as of 1985

*The Rebel Yell – A mini ride that played the famous Billy Idol song with the same name. *Miniature Train (CP Huntington) – Closed 1983 *Cloud Nine – Round Up – Closed 1980 *Flight Thru Space – Dark Ride – Closed 1979 Rep. by Astro Liner. *Wild Cat – Roller Coaster – Closed 1967 *Skylift – went over adjacent highway and returned to park. *Wild Mouse – Closed sometime before 1974.

References

{{reflist

External links

Salem Museum article on Lakeside

PBS 2017 documentary
Defunct amusement parks in the United States Salem, Virginia Amusement parks in Virginia 1920 establishments in Virginia 1986 disestablishments in Virginia Roanoke College Amusement parks opened in 1920 Amusement parks closed in 1986