Alex Rigsby

I've seen the Houstorian website before. The roller coaster shown in the Luna Park photo may be the same one moved to Playland, but if it is then the coaster was heavily reprofiled. In Galveston, on the Seawall, there is a restaurant called The Spot that has an aerial photo of ab old wooden roller coaster that was there. PBS had a show a few years ago where an elderly woman reminisced about growing up in a house located within the middle of the structure. Understandably, she said that the noise was so great that you couldn't stand to be in the house when the coaster was running.

Thank you all for the info. I'd never seen an aerial photo of Playland. Much appreciated. I have the Houston: Then and Now book, which is where I saw the first photo of Oak Park.

Yes. I've found a few links and photos. I'm trying to find everything I can.

Does anyone have or able to provide access to photographs of old amusement parks in Texas? I love amusement parks and roller coasters and travel each year to visit parks. This past July, I travelled to Germany for two weeks to do such and do other sightseeing, as well. Within Houston, I know there were AstroWorld (of course) Playland Park (near the old AstroWorld site, though I don't know exactly where) Hanna Barbera Land (became Splashtown in Spring) Oak Park (near the intersection of Washington and Houston Avenue) Peppermint Park (apparently there were several, with one near the old Gulfgate Mall) KiddieLand (where Kroger is now at Kirby and S. Main) Electric Park (I think this was at what is now White Oak Park off Houston Avenue, just north of I-10. This was one of the trolley parks that opened at the turn of the 20th century. I remember reading that the park would not hire union labor and that, supposedly, some union members set of dynamite on trolleys in retaliation. I can find the article on the internet again if anyone would like to read about it. Information about this park has been extremely difficult to come by.) Elsewhere in Texas there was: A park purportedly in Corpus Christi Electric Park in Galveston Some other park in Galveston Exposition Park in San Antonio Lake Worth Park in San Antonio Lake Side Park in Wichita Falls Playland Park in San Antonio (their old wooden rollercoaster called "The Rocket" was moved an opened at Knoebel's Amusement Park in 1985) Pleasure Pier in Port Arthur This last latter is referenced (but not in detail) at http://defunctparks..../TX/indexTX.htm I would also love to find photos or video of Ponchartrain Beach in New Orleans (which I visited in 1982) and the not-so-well-known Lincoln Park in New Orleans which was built to cater to the black community during segregation. I know some people have commented on such in other posts, but many date back several years. If you have footage of your own on, say, 8mm, I may be willing to help pay for the conversion. If any of you have questions, about these or other parks, I'll be delighted to answer to the best of my ability. And, in case you don't know, Landry's is turning the pier that the old Flagship Inn was on into the "Galveston Pleasure Pier" with amusement rides and restaurant(s). That is tentatively expected to open in May, 2012, and there is lots of local news coverage and articles on it. Thanks! Alex