Fontaine Ferry Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fontaine Ferry Park was an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky from 1905 to 1969. Located in Louisville's West End on 64 acres, it offered over 50 rides and attractions, as well as a swimming pool, skating rink and theatre. The most popular attraction were its wooden roller coasters, of which 4 were built over the years.

It was built by the local trolley company, as it gave the trolley company business during holidays and weekends. Trolley companies did this in several cities, including Indianapolis.^[1]

It was built on land originally part of Aaron Fontaine's estate and ferry landing, which he bought in 1814, and sold in 1887 to Thomas Landenwich, who built a hotel and other attractions there. The park opened to the public in May 1905.

Until the 1940s, visitors could travel to the park by steamboat from Downtown Louisville. The park became integrated in 1964 after several years of protests, and was vandalized heavily during racial unrest on May 4, 1969. The nearby Shawnee neighborhood had also been integrated, and white flight was occurring heavily there, especially after the 1968 riots in the West End. The park was sold in 1969, and renamed Ghost Town on the River in 1972, then River Glen Park in 1975, its last season. Following several fires, the city purchased it in 1981. The 1910 carousel was relocated to Marriott's Great America near Chicago the next year and reopened as the Ameri-Go-Round.

Fontaine Ferry is often cited bitterly as a reminder of racial segregation in Louisville. Prior to its integration in 1964, African Americans could only attend the much less elaborate Chickasaw Park. ^[2]

It is now the site of a residential development called Fontaine Estates, where houses were first sold in 1996. The $1.2 million Shawnee Park Sports Complex was built on the former Fontaine Ferry site in 1997. ^[3]

[edit] References

^ Rose Island on a Summer Day, videorecording
^ Schneider, Grace. "Project documents civil-rights movement", Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY, 2004-10-02, p. 01B.
^ Edelen, Sheryl. "Amusement-park site in Shawnee found new use", Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), 2004-10-20, p. 01E.