Citizendia
Your Ad Here

This article deals with Idora Park of Oakland, California. For another park of the same name, see Idora Park, Youngstown. For another park of the same name in Oakland California see Idora Park.

Idora Park was a 17. 5 acre Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century were Picnic and Recreation areas along or at the ends of Streetcar Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U Temescal Creek is one of the principal watercourses in the city of Oakland California, United States. Idora Park was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Company that ran several eastern pleasure parks. What began as a pleasure ground in a rural setting for Sunday picnics evolved over time into the finest amusement park in the part of the San Francisco Bay Area known as the East Bay. Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a geographically and ethnically diverse metropolitan region that surrounds the The East Bay is a subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States and comprises Alameda and Contra Costa Counties Popularity of the park declined after the advent of the automobile and in 1929, Idora Park was razed.

Idora Park, Oakland, 1910

Contents

History

The Realty Syndicate constructed the park in 1903[1] on a site of Ayala Park that included an opera house, ranchlands and greenhouses on the north banks of Temescal Creek. Temescal Creek is one of the principal watercourses in the city of Oakland California, United States. Rodney Ingersoll erected the first figure eight "sky railway" on the site in 1903. Idora Park was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Company that ran several eastern pleasure parks and originally the name was to be Kennywood Park (the name of an amusement park in Pennsylvania). Kennywood is an Amusement park near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, in the borough of West Mifflin. It was reported that Mr. Ingersoll named the park after his daughter, Idora, but there is some question about the name because of the park with the same name, Idora Park, located in Youngstown, Ohio. For another park of the same name in Oakland California see Idora Park. That park was said to have been named either by a contest winner claiming, "I adore it!" or after a local Indian tribe.

The Realty Syndicate also owned and operated what later became known as the Key System transit company, the Claremont Hotel and the Key Route Inn. The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company which provided Mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda The Claremont Resort & Spa is a historic Hotel that straddles the border between Berkeley and Oakland, California The Key Route Inn was a major hotel in Oakland California in the early decades of the 20th century Major partners of the company were Frank C. Havens and Francis "Borax" Smith, who earned his fortune in borax mining, subsequently investing it in transit, commercial and housing properties in the East Bay area. Frank Colton Havens was a lawyer in the San Francisco Bay Area from the late 19th to early 20th centuries who also was a major developer of real estate in the East Bay Francis Marion Smith (aka "Borax" Smith and the "Borax King") ( February 2, 1846 &ndash August 27, 1931 Borax (from Persian burah) also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important Boron

Located on the block bounded by Telegraph Avenue, Shattuck, 56th and 58th streets in the northern section of Oakland[2], Idora Park was famous for its Opera house. Telegraph Avenue is a Street that begins at its southernmost point in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland California and ends Idora Park was a walled-in park and admission to the park was 10 cents and it was open thirty or more weeks a year. A man named Bertrand York managed the park from 1917 until its demise in 1929.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, comic stars from the TivoliTheater relocated to Oakland and renamed themselves the Idora Park Comic Opera Company. Shows like The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance and The Wizard of the Nile were performed under the direction of Paul Steindorff in a large wooden opera house called the Wigwam Theater. The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a Comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and Libretto by W The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty is a Comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and Libretto by W The Wizard of the Nile was a burlesque Operetta in three acts composed by Victor Herbert to a libretto by Harry B Also after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hundreds of displaced people camped at park[3] and the Pacific Coast League of baseball relocated to Idora Park. The Pacific Coast League (PCL is a Minor league baseball league operating in the West and Midwest of the United States. In 1919 when Oakland's own 159th Regiment returned from France, the Park was opened to the fighting men at no charge.

Rides

Idora Park rides cost 5 cents. Many of the rides were advertised as being the "largest," or the "first. "

Rides were renamed regularly and one finds titles such as Dodge 'em, The Whip, Over the Top, Race through the Clouds and the Magic Carpet.

Roller coasters

The park featured five traditional roller coasters during its history:

Attractions

Idora Park boasted the first outdoor public address system built by Magnavox, the first radio theater in the West and a huge searchlight -- like many things at Idora Park -- reputed to be the largest in the world. Magnavox ( Latin for "great voice" is an American Electronics company founded by Edwin Pridham and Peter L Radio drama is a form of audio storytelling broadcast on radio.

Idora Park was a walled-in park that had a zoo, an ostrich farm, animal shows, a dance hall, racetrack, a huge outdoor amphitheater, a Japanese garden, bear grotto and a main street called the Glad Way, Penny Arcade, photo gallery and shooting gallery. In 1904 a ballpark with a 3000 seat double deck grandstand was erected and after the '06 earthquake the Pacific Coast Baseball League relocated there. The park had the largest roller skating rink in California and largest West of Chicago that rented clamp-on skates and had a bandstand in its center, and a Mountain slide that sported a firework volcanic display on Saturday nights and balloon ascensions wherein the husband and wife acrobat team of Frank and Carrie Hamilton parachuteted down after their act.

One attraction was "The Laying Hens" where you threw a ball at a wooden hen sitting on a barnyard fence and if you hit it, it fell over and delivered a hard-boiled egg for you to eat. The park offered electric souvenirs, so-called "Jap" ping-pong, a musical arcade, dancing pavilion, Roof Garden and Grill, lunch counters, open air concerts and numerus refreshment booths.

Entertainment

Vaudeville performers used Idora Park stages; famous stars who emerged from Oakland included Hobart Bosworth, a widely known leading man in the early days of film, Fatty Arbuckle and possibly Lon Chaney. Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s Hobart Bosworth (b August 11 1867, Marietta Ohio - d December 30 1943, Glendale California) was an Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle ( March 24 1887 &ndash June 29 1933) was an American Silent film Comedian Lon Chaney ( April 1 1883 &ndash August 26 1930) nicknamed " The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American It has been said that Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton improved their skating skills at the Idora Park skating rink described (in 1913) as the largest in the world. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton ( October 4 1895 &ndash February 1 1966) was an Academy Award -winning American Something called the Cabaret de la Mort existed for a time. Jack London's daughter Becky describes trips to Idora Park with her father (link below). Jack London (January 12 1876 &ndash November 22 1916 was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The

Aimee Semple McPherson held the largest outdoor baptism to date before 10,000 spectators in the Idora Park swimming tanks after returning from the "Orient" following the death of her husband, Robert Semple from dysentery. Aimee Semple McPherson ( October 9, 1890 &ndash September 27, 1944) also known as "Sister Aimee" or "Sister" was a Robert Semple is the name of Bob Semple, New Zealand politician Robert Semple (Canada, governor of the Red River Colony

Refreshments

Idora Park was famous for its crispy sour milk waffles (a recipe for which was later published in the Oakland Tribune). Food at the park, if you didn't bring your own, was available;Ice Cream, popcorn and Coney Island "Red Hots" were a nickel, whiskey a dime, Busch Beer from St. Louis was five cents. The Park's restaurant featured full course meals for seventy-five cents to one dollar and soda pop came in 12 ounce bottles.

Demise

Late in life, Idora Park was eclipsed by the rise of the automobile and Neptune Beach, California in Alameda, California. Neptune Beach was an amusement park on the shore of San Francisco Bay in the city of Alameda California. Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. In 1929, Idora Park was razed and a plan to develop the "Central Square", an apartment and business complex, was announced. But the depression intervened and a variety of small Storybook Houses and worker housing apartment blocks were constructed on the 17 acre site. A Storybook House refers to an architectural style popularized in the 1920s in England and America. This is said to be the first neighborhood with undergrounded utilities in the west.

References

  1. ^ Bagwell, Beth (1982) Oakland, The Story of a City, Presidio Press, California, page 148, ISBN 0891411461.
  2. ^ Bagwell, Beth (1982) Oakland, The Story of a City, Presidio Press, California, page 148, ISBN 0891411461.
  3. ^ Bagwell, Beth (1982) Oakland, The Story of a City, Presidio Press, California, page 161, ISBN 0891411461.

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic