Mountain Park, Holyoke, MA
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Mountain Park, located on Mt. Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was originally built as a trolley park by the Holyoke Street Railway Company in the mid-1890's. Trolley parks were built just outside of populated areas to encourage trolley usage on weekends. The Holyoke Street Railway company created two attractions, Mountain Park at the base of Mt. Tom, and a large house on the summit of the mountain. To access the summit area required disembarking from the main trolley line and taking a special mountain rail system consisting of two counterweighted cars. The first summit house burned down in 1900 and an even larger one was built, eight stories high to the top of its golden dome. The summit house burned again in 1929. With the growing popularity of automobiles and the beginning of the Great Depression the summit house was replaced with an inexpensive pavilion.
Mountain Park itself remained in operation as small amusement park until it closed at the end of the 1987 season. Many hoped a new buyer could be found but by the winter of 1988 many of the rides were being sold off. The community did manage to rally and purchase the carousel, which is now located at the Holyoke Heritage State Park in downtown Holyoke. In the intervening years, a series of fires destroyed most of the remaining buildings and the remaining structures were demolished in 2003.
