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The area was largely forgotten until Mayor Martin Krueger decided that his town would have a park and bathing beach. In a few short years, the deserted area was transformed into a family amusement center on Lake Michigan's southern shores. These beginnings helped shape the Michigan City community. However, the lakeside park and bathing beach of today barely resemble the famous amusement area of the early 1900s. Somewhere along this town's history, its greatest asset of that early time--its amusement park--transformed into a natural beauty that is still treasured by families today, though nostalgia remains for the park of the past. Michigan City's Washington Parks traces those lost amusement years with images and the complete amazing tale, from the building of the large wooden roller coaster with a lake view to the communal turn toward a nature park.

A collection of photographs from one of America's most famous amusement parks, Kings Dominion, and the iconic attractions that make up the park.

Kings Dominion officially opened in 1975 on a 400-acre site between Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Modeled on sister park Kings Island in Ohio, it debuted with several iconic attractions, including the Eiffel Tower, Rebel Yell, and Lion Country Safari. Over the decades, ownership has changed several times, yet the park continues to grow and remain popular, even "starring" in the 1977 film Rollercoaster. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, it has evolved into one of North America's premier regional theme parks and is currently home to an impressive assortment of attractions and live entertainment. The park also boasts a formidable arsenal of roller coasters (14), including four of the wooden variety, three LIM-launched coasters, and the 30-story-tall Intimidator (I-305) giga coaster.

Explore Seabreeze Park, one of America's oldest amusement parks, and the tragedy that spawned a revitalization of the historic park.

In operation since 1879, Seabreeze Park is the fourth-oldest operating amusement park in the United States. Mixing old and new within its gates, the park's attractions range from a vintage 1920 Jack Rabbit roller coaster and a tree-lined midway to a kiddieland and waterpark. George Long Sr. came to the shores of Lake Ontario as a concessionaire in 1904, and his son assumed ownership of the park by the 1940s. Over the years, the Long, Norris, and Price families have propelled the park through changing times and perilous fires. In 1994, fire destroyed the heart of the park, its carousel. Recognizing the damage as an opportunity to revive the cherished ride, the family relied on more than a century of experience to inspire and hand-craft a new "antique" carousel. In an age of corporate theme parks, Seabreeze Park endures as one of the country's favorite family-owned and -operated parks.

One of the oldest amusement parks in the United States, and one of the last surviving "trolley parks,'? Waldameer Park has provided generations with fun-filled afternoons.

Originally beginning as a picnic area known as Hoffman's Grove on the banks of Lake Erie in Northwestern Pennsylvania, the Erie Electric Motor Company leased the park in 1896 and renamed it "Waldameer,'? translated literally as "Woods by the Sea'? in German. A trolley park's main purpose was to entice people to ride the new-fangled trolley car on the weekends, and Waldameer accomplished that in spades. Initially, the park's main attraction was its beach on the lake, a popular destination for people to go and escape the heat of summer, but over the years, Waldameer Park changed and grew significantly. In the early 20th century, rides like Dip the Dips, Ravine Flyer, and Mill Run grew to be the main attractions at the park. Over the past three decades, Waldameer Park has grown into a modern amusement park, while maintaining its beloved nostalgic atmosphere. Today, visitors cool off in the Water World water park and enjoy thrill rides like the Comet, Steel Dragon, X-Scream, and Ravine Flyer II.

Since opening in 1980, Sesame Place® theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, has been the Northeast's premiere destination for fun, learning, and entertainment for children and adults alike.

This wonderful playland has seen immense change and growth from opening day, ever adapting like Sesame Street® itself to engage the newest generation of kids. Here, the original Muppets™ from Sesame Street created by Jim Henson, such as Big Bird, Grover, and Cookie Monster, as well as the newer residents, such as Elmo, Zoe, Murray, and Abby Cadabby, come right out of the television and into attractions, shows, parades, meet-and-greets, and more.

By the end of the 19th century, New Jersey coastline was dotted with thriving amusement parks but are just fond and fading memories today.

The Jersey Shore has always attracted people seeking relief from summer heat and humidity. Long before Europeans came here, the native Lenape clammed, fished, and played games on the beach and in the surf. These original people could scarcely have imagined that, by the end of the 19th century, the 120-mile-long coastline would be filled with amusement parks featuring gentle kiddie car rides, terrifying roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, and fast-food emporiums. James Bradley in Asbury Park and William Sandlass Jr. in Highland Beach created mass entertainment for hundreds of thousands of people. Their seaside recreation centers, along with those in Long Branch, Bradley Beach, Pleasure Bay, and others, endured for years. Sadly, they are now just distant and vanishing memories that are resurrected in this piece.

From its humble beginnings as a place to swim and row a boat, Ideal Beach eventually became Indiana Beach, a small amusement park where families could have good old-fashioned fun.

Founded by Earl Spackman in 1926, its popularity was bolstered by the addition of a dance hall that drew the top bands of the nation during the Depression and war years of the 1940s. When Earl passed away, his son Tom continued his legacy, setting Indiana Beach on a course that would make it one of the most popular vacation resorts and amusement parks in the entire Midwest, delighting nearly one million visitors every year.

Before Disneyland, Hunt's Pier was the premier destination for vacationing families and fun-seekers alike.

With the completion of the Garden State Parkway and a prospering society's increased mobility in the years following World War II, the Wildwoods transitioned from a remote barrier island along the southern New Jersey coast to a vacation mecca. Featuring free bathing beaches, state-of-the-art motels, endless nightlife, and a honky-tonk boardwalk lined with entertainment options of all kinds, the resort would thrive for the better part of the 20th century. During that golden era, Hunt's Pier became known as a fun-lover's paradise of themed custom attractions; whether it was a child challenging the Flyer roller coaster's intimidating plunge or a child-at-heart exploring the dark caverns of the Golden Nugget and the haunted decks of the pirate ship Skua, anyone who visited the Oceanic Wonderland wouldn't forget it. Hunt's Pier captures the magic of the famed seaside amusement park through historical photographs, many published here for the first time.

Rhode Island Amusement Parks brings back the memories of a time less complicated than the present, when a sense of family held communities together.

Rhode Islanders were once able to enjoy amusement parks without traveling far; the state was home to several ocean front parks as early as the mid-18th century, with some of them surviving into the late 19th century. Photographers Rob Lewis and Ryan Young have embarked on a journey to discover the amusement parks of the past in this delightful and unprecedented collection of images. View the parks that provided a recreational outlet for so many Rhode Island families and the visitors who frequented them. Scenes from several neighboring Massachusetts amusement parks are also pictured. The images in this collection are from two large private archives as well as treasured family collections. Special highlights include photographs of hand-operated rides of the 1800s and views of President Taft's plane, which landed at Sandy Beach in 1911. Also featured is Vanity Fair, an amusement park that lasted only five years during the first decade of this century. Residents of these communities will enjoy seeing Rhode Island as it once was and will witness the changes it has endured over the years.