Entertainment has long been a tradition on the land now referred to as Emerson Park, home to the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse. Beginning in 1889, theatre was part of that tradition. Most of the entertainment was in the form of popular amusement rides and arcades, but the various parks that now make up Emerson were also noted for theatrical presentations, dances and Big Band concerts. Theatres were built in 1889 and 1904 specifically for theatre productions, but were overshadowed by the popularity of the Big Bands and the amusement park activities. In the summer of 1930, an impressive carousel building was built which housed a memorable merry-go-round. One of the few remaining buildings left from the park's glory days, this carousel building is now the home of the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, a professional not-for-profit theatre company dedicated to the production of musical theatre.
Traditional amusement parks once operated successfully throughout the Finger Lakes region, entertaining and exciting patrons by the thousands during the summer months. The northern shore line of Owasco Lake, now Emerson Park, featured a series of amusement parks from the late nineteenth century until 1967. Although most traces of these establishments have vanished, the names Lakeside Park, Enna Jettick Park and Deauville Island Park still conjure fond memories for local residents.
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Island Park saw two new attractions in 1906: a Figure 8 roller coaster and a miniature railroad run by Mabey & West's Miniature Railroad Company. West was Billy West, another Auburn native, who enjoyed a successful career as the owner of a traveling vaudeville minstrel act. West's Minstrel Show was nationally known and enthusiastically received when it played Auburn at the Burtis Opera House. Why West entered into the amusements venture is not known, but the miniature steam train and canopied passenger cars, which ran on a half-mile track around the Park, became one of the most recognizable features of Island Park.
Prior to the entrance of Carmody and the establishment of Island Park, Auburn City Railway Company had built an electric rail line connecting Auburn to Owasco Lake. To entice patrons to ride to the end of the line, the rail company created Lakeside Park, a modest public space with a pavilion and gardened walkways on the parcel adjacent to Island Park. In 1910, Michael Carmody's success with Island Park made officials from the Auburn & Syracuse Electric Railroad, which had absorbed the Auburn City Railway, sit up and take notice. The trolley company decided that they, too, should get into the amusement park business.
Lakeside Park came into its own in the 1920's. Auburn & Syracuse Railway contracted Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) to create rides, games and concession buildings. In 1921, PTC built the Wasco Dips, a roller coaster that ran along the end of the Owasco Outlet, and The Mill Chute, which was a tunnel water ride that wove between the massive wooden supports of the coaster. The Pavilion featured dancing each evening and a matinee each Saturday. The music, dances and performers became prime attractions and solidified the Park's regional reputation.
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Throughout the Great Depression, Enna Jettick Park thrived. Big bands and recording stars regularly performed at the Pavilion. Enna Jettick Park featured free attendance and dances for a dime. Even visitors with just a few cents in their pockets enjoyed watching the activity on the rides and listening to the music coming from the Pavilion. Churches, schools, industries and civic groups from throughout the region used Enna Jettick Park for their picnics and retreat days, much as groups still do today.
Regional automobile traffic, which had prompted the Park's expansion, eventually resulted in its downfall. Enna Jettick Park did not open in 1942 due to gas rationing during World War II. Although local residents hoped that the park would reopen with the easing of gas restriction, it did not. In 1944, Fred L. Emerson gave Enna Jettick Park to Cayuga County for use as a public park. The county renamed the land Emerson Park and razed the Roller Coaster, the Mill Chute and games buildings, which had quickly deteriorated over the two years they had stood vacant. Hershey Park in Pennsylvania purchased the PTC carousel and moved it to their facility. It has been beautifully restored and is operating to this day.
In the post war years, Island Park, renamed Deauville Island Park, remained an amusement park. Throughout the 1940's and 1950's, residents frequented Deauville during the summer months. But by the end of the 1960's, Deauville Island too was gone, razed to facilitate the expansion of Emerson Park. The last carousel at Emerson Park, a fanciful machine with zebras, camels, cranes and horses, operated in the old PTC carousel building on the main land until 1972 when it was sold to a museum on Long Island.
Today, only a few remnants remain to recall Emerson Park's colorful past. The Pavilion still hosts dances, dinners, wedding receptions and special events during the summer months. The grand old Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel building now houses The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in the space where the carousel once whirled.
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