Chain of Rocks Amusement Park

rubedugans · November 18, 2010, 11:14:15 AM

"Chain of Rocks opened in St. Louis MO 1927. Originally it was owned by Chris Hoffman. In the 1940's, it was bought by Carl Trippe of the Ideal Novelty Company. A group of investors headed by Bill Zimmerman purchased the park in 1958. Ken Thone was hired by them to manage the park and stayed with the park for 20 years. Several occurrences led to the parks' demise. Combined with a drop in school enrollment, which affected the school picnics, (a big part of Chain of Rocks business), two major fires in four years, and with the opening of Six Flags in Eureka, sealed the fate of the park on the cliff.The park closed for good in 1978"
From http://www.forestparkhighlands.com/chainofrocks.html
The park was a popular spot for Route 66 travelers. It was built on land that had been originally proposed for use as the site of the 1904 St Louis World's Fair.

I have several photos of the area before, and after the park, but very few during its' heyday.

If you have any memories, or images of the park I would love to hear/see them!

pintrader · November 18, 2010, 12:01:53 PM

I had never heard of this place. It sure looks like they had a great set up. I just love the coaster around the pool and the Mississippi River in the background really tops it off.

Junior · November 18, 2010, 02:29:36 PM

When I was a little kid, our school picnics were held there. I attended Armstrong Elementary School in Hazelwood in the early, early 70's. I remember a walk through haunted house, that, allegedly, somebody got stabbed in, so they closed it. They also had a ride through haunted house that I loved. I remember the skylift along the bluff, and a mad mouse rollercoaster I just loved. Our school would have a pavilion on the grounds with picnic tables in it, and mom loaded up our VW bus with picnic items and cold drinks. When Six Flags opened, the school moved the picnic there! Chain of Rocks Park declined rapidly after that.

sanddunerider · November 18, 2010, 02:47:51 PM

very interesting reading and pics. thanks

rubedugans · November 18, 2010, 03:40:46 PM

I was cleaning out a family estate about 1/2 mile from here this past weekend. Still sorting through so much in the way of photos/ slides (this is my part of the cleanup-scan 1,000+ slides of their lives and pos them for the rest of the family to enjoy) I have Disneyland, SF STL, Table Rock Lake, Meramec Caverns and I believe some of the demolition of chain of rocks...but not much else unfortunately. I am still looking though!

Ozark Outlaw · November 19, 2010, 12:04:37 PM

Wow, thanks for the history lesson, and information Rube! Since I don't live close to this area, I had never heard of the Chain of Rocks Amusement Park before. The Swooper was definitely an interesting little ride for its day!

It's amazing to read about all of these small town amusement parks before the days when everyone in the family had their own car, and before the days when you could jump onboard a niche airline, and be whisked away easily to a major theme park.

Sounds like you have a busy weekend ahead rube. I look forwarded to more!

edgy · January 16, 2011, 07:23:07 PM

Hi folks,

I came across this page and thought I would let you know there's a Facebook page that has a lot of information and photos about the amusement park and other features in the area.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=185108920645

Take care.

rubedugans · January 16, 2011, 08:04:37 PM

Thanks Edgy, that's awesome, I'll have to check that out!

Junior · January 17, 2011, 02:33:08 PM

Nice to see all those old pictures posted there. Thanks!

rubedugans · January 17, 2011, 04:16:39 PM

I have dozens of more photos from the 70's and 80's of the area, but non that include the park unfortunately. My Father in law lived up on the hill on the other side of the park , and we were frequent visitors up until grandpa passed this fall. The area has definitely gone down, but it still attracts many people at this time of year for eagle watching. I'll have to post some of the area/ grounds to the FB site.

rubedugans · January 17, 2011, 04:39:32 PM

Here are a few photos that I have posted onto another site of my explorations of the park.

This is the same location as the photo from the FB site below:

View from the top of the stairs looking towards the river:

rubedugans · January 17, 2011, 04:40:50 PM

A few more:
The drive separating the lot from the park:

The Chain of Rocks Streetcar at the Missouri Transportation Museum

Chain of Rocks Amusement Park

pintrader