Eden's Amusement Park At 6408 Harrisburg Blvd.

[Cemeterywolf]

I was wondering if anyone has heard of Eden Park in Houston? The artifact was found near Magnolia Park and dates 1910-1930's? It may be from somewhere else.

Top says EDEN Middle has a 4 and bottom has Park on it. Could this be from a Houston park?

[AtticaFlinch]

I was wondering if anyone has heard of Eden Park in Houston? The artifact was found near Magnolia Park and dates 1910-1930's? It may be from somewhere else.

Top says EDEN Middle has a 4 and bottom has Park on it. Could this be from a Houston park?

My curiosity is thoroughly piqued. I'll check my historical coin books when I get home. (Yes, I have those. I used to do some historical archaeology too.) Something tells me this isn't local though. The greenish oxidation would lead me to believe it's a copper or a heavy copper alloy coin. Is that correct? Or, is that just odd colored dirt? Copper's awfully high-end to be making carousel tokens out of.

[AtticaFlinch]

Can we see the other side of the coin? Also, in what context was the coin located? Was it buried? On the surface? Next to anything else?

So far, I'm thinking this is not local and probably not even from the US.

[AtticaFlinch]

I could be completely off on this, but I'm betting this is a turnstile token. In the 1910s-30s, it wouldn't have been unheard of to make these from a copper alloy. If this is the case, that narrows the search to places named Eden Park that were open in the early part of the last century that would have had a need for turnstile tokens. And, the only Eden Park I can find that fits that description is the rugby stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

This is just a wild guess though. I'd really like to see what the other side of the coin looks like before I state that with any sort of confidence.

[Subdude]

There were streetcars servicing Eden Park in Cincinnati. Could this be a token that made it to Houston?

Opened by Mt. Adams & Eden Park Inclined Railway in 1876. In 1877, company opened connecting horse car line from downtown Cincinnati via 5th Street to bottom of incline. In 1878, company opened connecting horse car line from top of incline into Eden Park. And in 1880, incline modified to transport streetcars, enabling formation of through streetcar route. Sold in 1896 to Cincinnati Street Railway. Was Cincinnati's last incline, closing down in 1948, having transportated buses in its final year.

Link

[Dub]

The small diameter hole at the 09:00 position makes the medallion remind me of the old tokens we were given as kids when we went to a public swimming pool that allowed you to put your street clothes and towel in a check basket which was kept in a secure area by the swimming pool staff? The token had a safety pin through the hole which allowed us to pin it to our swim suits.

Last one of those I saw was over at the old Stude Park Pool off Studemont back in the early 70's.

[AtticaFlinch]

There were streetcars servicing Eden Park in Cincinnati. Could this be a token that made it to Houston?

Link

I considered this possibility too, and the only reason I dismissed it is because I thought those historic cable cars only took real currency and not tokens.

Edit: Not to mention, if there was a token, wouldn't it be specific to the rail line, and not to one of the destinations on the rail line?

Anyhow, check out this photo:

Link

Edited May 27, 2010 by AtticaFlinch

[sevfiv]

Found this in the 1918 directory:

It seemed to at least have had a shooting gallery, hamburger stand, and a park..

[little frau]

Found this in the 1918 directory:

It seemed to at least have had a shooting gallery, hamburger stand, and a park..

and a swimming pool.....isn't that what a natatorium is??? So, Dub's tag for the checked clothes basket fits.

[qkslvr]

Eden's Amusement Park was on Harrisburg and Baker Street. Here is the Sanborn 1917 map for it.

[FilioScotia]

Eden's Amusement Park was on Harrisburg and Baker Street. Here is the Sanborn 1917 map for it.

Wow. Judging from that map, Eden's was an amusement park that took up the entire south side of the 6400 block of Harrisburg, between what was then Baker St on the west to 1st Street on the east. It also extended southward on land that's now crossed by streets that weren't there then. Texas Ave and Capital apparently didn't extend that far into the east end at that time.

Baker is now Hughes, and 1st is now 65th street. It helps to remember that the town of Harrisburg was an incorporated municipality until sometime in the 1920s, and it had its own names and numbers for its streets.

The Sanborn Map shows Eden's Amusement Park had most of the usual attractions one finds in amusement parks. It appears it was about the same size of the old Playland Park on South Main, more or less.

I used to live in the 6700 block of Sherman back in the 50s, just a few blocks away from this site, and I was friendly with some of the older people who had been living there for many years. But, I never heard anything about an amusement park once existing within walking distance of where I lived.

I'm guessing Eden's Amusement Park probably did well in the prosperous Roaring 20s, but disappeared in the Depression Era 1930s. There's been no trace of it for a long time now.

It would be interesting to do some serious archeological digging in that area. I bet it would turn up some interesting artifacts from those times.

Edited May 30, 2010 by FilioScotia

[sevfiv]

It looks like it was gone sometime between 1923 and 1925 (it doesn't show up on the 1925 Sanborn map but is listed in the 1922 directory).

In 1932 there is nothing listed at all for that block.

[FilioScotia]

Wow. Judging from that map, Eden's was an amusement park that took up the entire south side of the 6400 block of Harrisburg, between what was then Baker St on the west to 1st Street on the east.

Sidebar to the Eden's Amusement Park story:

I'm fascinated by the fact that a street once named Baker St is now named Hughes St, in the area where Howard Hughes Sr started his oil drilling bit company in the early 1900s.

Today the company is named Baker-Hughes, and after a little Googling, I learned why.

Here's what the company's website says:

In 1907, Reuben C. Baker developed a casing shoe that modernized cable tool drilling. In 1909, Howard R. Hughes, Sr. introduced the first roller cutter bit that dramatically improved the rotary drilling process. Over the ensuing eight decades, Baker International and Hughes Tool Company continued to lead the industry with innovative products in well completions, drilling tools and related services.

Now we know why that street on the east end was once named Baker.

Edited May 30, 2010 by FilioScotia

[AtticaFlinch]

This is all very fascinating. Is there an online database for the directory info and the map?

[sevfiv]

HPL recently made some Houston directories available online (~1866-1922):

http://digital.houstonlibrary.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fcitydir

and the Sanborn maps are available too with online proxy access with a library card -- they may only have 1885, 1890, 1896, 1907, and 1924 available digitally, though.

[NenaE]

http://houstorian.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/houstonwards1920.jpg Eden Park is also seen on the Wards map from 1920, NW of the country club in the East End - 2 ward part. Thanks, Houstorian . I use your list all the time.

There is a picture of that natatorium in one of my books.

Edited January 12, 2012 by NenaE

[Highrise Tower]

On 5/30/2010 at 11:44 AM, qkslvr said:

Eden's Amusement Park was on Harrisburg and Baker Street. Here is the Sanborn 1917 map for it.

This is awesome. Here's the map bigger and easier to read.