MD -- Glen Echo Park:
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- Wikipedia Description: Glen Echo Park, Maryland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Glen Echo Park is a public park in Glen Echo, Maryland. It is managed by the National Park Service as part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. It began in 1891 as a National Chautauqua Assembly and operated as an amusement park until 1968. As of 2007, the park hosts an arts education program and is also known for its antique carousel, its Spanish Ballroom and its historic electric street car and its annual Washington Folk Festival.
The park is near to several notable sites such as the Clara Barton house and the C&O canal. Glen Echo used to be a trolley park accessible by the street car system; the park was designed to be the last stop on the cars so people could go there after work. The original park had several attractions, including bumper cars, shooting galleries, and an expansive rollercoaster. The park also had a large pool, the Crystal Pool, the remains of which can still be seen today, and a shooting gallery, which was stopped in WWII because of ammunition shortages.
The Park Carousel:
The last operating park ride, and the highlight of the park today, is a 1921 Dentzel three-row menagerie carousel with 38 horses, 2 chariots, 4 rabbits, 4 ostriches, a lion, a tiger, a giraffe, and a prancing deer. The carousel operates from May through September, running from 12 to 6 on weekends and 10-2 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays all season and Fridays in July and August. In its heyday the carousel sported an operating brass ring game, in which daring riders could reach out and pull a ring out of a holder next to the carousel. Grabbing a brass ring would win the lucky rider a free ride. The brass ring arm is still visible today, although it no longer operates.
The face of the carousel had changed greatly since 1921, with the animals, rounding boards, inner drum panels, and band organ receiving several new coats of park paint over the years. An installation photograph from 1921, as compared to the carousel in 1983, showed an original design of the body and tack on the Indian horse that was very different from the present-day animal. Chipping away at the horse's paint revealed several strata of differently colored and styled paint jobs spanning the past sixty years, with the original 1921 paint at the bottom. Carousel and fairground art specialist Rosa Ragan, who has restored several other carousels in the US, restored the Indian horse by removing the park paint, exposing as much of the original paint as possible, and filling in the gaps in the original paint, a process called inpainting, before covering the horse in a protective varnish. This process, however, exposed the original paint to damage from riders, thus rendering the poor horse unridable! In order to restore each animal without risking damage to the original paint, Ragan developed a new process of uncovering the original paint job, recording the colors and design, and then covering the original paint with a reversible varnish before giving the animal a white base coat and repainting it in the original colors. However, Ragan did leave a small window of original paint exposed on each animal for riders to find. These glimpses of the original 1921 paint are called "windows to the past" and can be found on the plain side (the inward-facing side) of each animal. Ragan's 20-year restoration of the carousel completely overhauled the animals, the band organ, and the rounding boards and drum panels, returning the carousel to its original beauty and splendor.
History of the Park:
The park was originally designed as a Chautauqua site, a precursor of sorts to the arts facility Glen Echo has become today. It flourished until a misprint in the paper claimed that the mosquitoes in the area had malaria. In the early 20th century it was turned into an amusement park, which operated until the late 1960s. Like many public facilities in and around the Washington area, Glen Echo was restricted to whites. After a series of protests in the early 1960's, the park opened the doors to all races. However, the surrounding community complained about the influx of urban African Americans. As a result, the trolley and bus service to Glen Echo were closed. Without the public transportation link, Glen Echo, like most small suburban amusement parks, closed in 1968. Today, the park is served by a bus coming from the Bethesda Metro station.
Since 1971, the park has been under the watch of the National Park Service. Various renovations, backed by government funds and individual donations, have taken place throughout the park, most notably the Spanish Ballroom, the Arcade building that now hosts art classes, and the art deco style opening gates. The park's carousel and large children's theater remain an attraction for all ages in Bethesda and Glen Echo. Every Friday and Sunday night of the year, the park hosts a contra dance either inside the Spanish Ballroom or in the open-air Bumper Car Pavilion. The two venues host other dances (salsa, waltz, tango, slow blues, or swing) at the same time and also on other weekend and weekday evenings.
In the early 2000s, the park obtained a historic streetcar from Philadelphia. The streetcar is now located at the entrance to the park.
- Atlas Obscura Description: Glen Echo Amusement Park
Bethesda, Maryland
Once home to seven different roller coasters, Glen Echo has undergone many transformations since its founding in 1891.
Since its founding in 1891, Glen Echo Park has undergone many transformations. The park initially served as a site for the National Chautauqua Assembly, which was an American cultural and education movement popular at the turn of the 20th century. But after rumors spread that mosquitoes were transmitting malaria in the area, the Chautauqua closed up shop in 1898 and the site was transformed into an amusement park that operated until 1968.
During that seventy-year period, Glen Echo was home to seven different roller coasters. The remaining structures from the park, such as the arcade and the “Cuddle Up” teacup ride remind visitors of the art deco architecture popular in the area in the 1930s. Not much else is original: The Crystal Pool had been filled in and is covered in trees and brush, but the impressive gateway entrance remains. Still, new layers of paint and other restorations have kept the appearance of these standing structures fresh.
The park is also known for its custom wood-carved Dentzel Carousel that has been restored to its 1921 state and still operates on a limited schedule.
During the era of the trolley car in Maryland, Glen Echo Park was the last stop on the line, serving as a popular destination for post-work family leisure. A trolley car from the era remains out front underneath the neon Glen Echo sign.
The above was from https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/glen-echo-amusement-park
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