Doling out fun: What ever happened to the amusement rides at Doling Park?

For Springfield residents of a certain age, the cackling laugh of Giggling Gertie cascading over the rolling hills at Doling Park remains a vivid memory. The animatronic old woman sat outside one of several rollercoasters that graced the park during the middle part of the past century.

Today, the historic Doling Park is known for its quiet cave and lakes. But for about 70 years, the park was considered a citywide attraction for its amusement park, which featured rollercoasters, a Ferris wheel, tilt-a-whirl and merry-go-round. While family-friendly rides no longer exist at the park, remnants remain within the Doling Park Museum, including countless photos, artifacts and a few cars from the retired rides.

Taking a trip down memory lane, visitors may wonder what happened to the amusement park and its rides. Despite community love for the park, those who operated the amusement rides did not take lasting care of them.

A bit of background, starting with a loose cow

The original 40-acre Doling Park — today the park is made up of 56 acres — was opened by businessman James Marshall Doling in 1883.

Doling and his family lived at 409 E. Lynn St., just around the corner from where Cox North Hospital is today, according to a Springfield Leader and Press story published on Feb. 24, 1974. One day, the family milk cow went missing and Doling was tasked with tracking her down.

Fortunately, it had rained the evening before, so Doling set out to follow the missing cow's footprints. He followed the tracks for about 2 1/2 miles until he came across the cow near a cave's entrance. Per Google Maps, this would have been about a 42-minute walk.

At this time, the cave and surrounding land was owned by John Giboney and his family, who lived in a little log cabin near where the park's tennis courts are today.

"He (Doling) was so attracted to the scenic beauty of the place that he bought the 40-acre tract from the Giboney family amd announced he would make a park out of it one day," according to the "Doling Park History Book," a 1 1/2-inch bound book curated by community members. Doling purchased the land for $2,500.

Over the next 20-plus years, Doling and his family improved the land, opening it as a park. They constructed features like bath houses, fountains and a concession stand, and expanded the lake, adding a variety of new fish. The park became popular for community picnics.

By the early 1900s, Doling and his family were ready to hand the park over to someone else. On Feb. 6, 1907, Doling sold the land to the Doling Amusement and Cold Storage Corporation for $10,000, according to the "Doling Park History Book." The corporation was operated by William Henry Jezzard, Benjamin E. Meyer and Charles E. Brooks.

'Coney Island ... of the Ozarks'

The St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 had a significant impact on Doling Park, especially after its acquisition by the Doling Amusement and Cold Storage Corporation.

"Springfield is to have a new summer theater and place of amusement that will be the most complete and elaborate thing of the kind in the southwest outside of St. Louis and the other large cities," said a story in the Springfield Leader and Press, published on March 1, 1907. "It will be the Coney Island and Luna Park of the Ozarks."

In addition to a summer theater and natatorium (a building containing indoor pools), the Doling Amusement and Cold Storage Corporation constructed a loop-the-loop roller coaster ($5,000), Ferris wheel ($3,500), penny arcade ($27,500) and Shoot the Chutes ($3,000), according to the Springfield Leader and Press story.

The penny arcade, located in the center of the park, down the hill from where the Doling Park Museum is today, was a popular destination for families. It featured a machine that printed photos and postcards of celebrities, a fortune teller, pinball and arcade games, a shooting gallery, a duck pond and Skee-ball, according to the "Doling Park History Book." Game prizes included wall tapestries, dolls, tea sets and other trinkets. A tapestry won from the penny arcade is on display inside the Doling Park Museum.

Perhaps the most difficult ride to imagine in present day is the Shoot the Chutes. The ride ran down the western slope of Doling Park into its lake. A flat-bottomed, wooden boat was pulled up a chute and then released back down into the water, hitting with a big splash.

Doling Park Museum Curator Peggy Mahan has worked at the museum since it opened in 2006, but she's been working at the park, in some capacity, since 1965. She recalled why Shoot the Chutes closed in 1915.

"Half the time, when the boat hit the water, it (threw people) into the lake," she said. "No one ever got killed, but there were some injured."

More local history: Do you remember the Ozark Barn Swings? Here's what we know about the daredevil attraction

Eventually, Jezzard became the sole owner of the Doling Amusement and Cold Storage Corporation, which later became the Springfield Amusement Corporation. He then sold the business to the Springfield-Greene County Park Board in 1929 for $80,000, according to the "Doling Park History Book." The park board continued to grow and expand the amusement park.

In 1933, the park board leased Doling's roller skating rink and amusement park rides to Ingersoll Amusement, a company owned by William and Lillian Morrison from Kansas City.

One of the most popular coasters at the park was the Wild Mouse. It was the last ride to open at the park in June 1969. The coaster was 150 feet long, 50 feet wide and 40 feet high, according to previous News-Leader coverage. It sat where the parking lots in front of the Northview Center are today.

Wild Mouse coasters were popular throughout the United States in the early part of the 20th century. They were known for their "sharp turns, high lateral forces, sudden drops and generally fun layouts," according to the "Doling Park History Book." Wild Mouse coasters used small cars that sat four or fewer passengers, but the cars were designed to be wider than the track, giving riders the feeling of hanging over the edge and that they could fly out.

In a News-Leader story published on July 2, 1969, 16-year-old Arlis Snyder shared that he and his younger brother Chris were "old pros" on the Wild Mouse.

"We were the two guinea pigs when the ride was first put up," Snyder told the News-Leader. The Snyders' father was the manager at Doling Park in 1969. "It used to go much faster before some of the paint wore off the tracks."

Former Springfield Mayor Bob Stephens recalled riding the Wild Mouse when he was about 8 or 9 years old.

"That really jerked you around a little bit," Stephens said with a laugh. "The corners were tighter, the straightaways were not as long, you were just going into a turn, but it was exciting when you were a kid."

Although the Wild Mouse coaster no longer exists, the Doling Park Museum has a few of its pieces, including the mouse conductor character who stood over the ride's entrance and one of the ride's cars.

And while Giggling Gertie's cackling laugh could be heard throughout all of Doling Park, she was actually located outside of the roller coaster known as Fun in the Dark, or Laff-in-the-Dark, which was on the west side of the park.

Mahan described Fun in the Dark as a horror-adjacent fun house. Folks rode into the house inside a car and were greeted by total darkness, spider webs and characters jumping out from the abyss.

An accurate photo of Giggling Gertie appears to be nonexistent, despite photos of animatronic women showing up in Facebook groups in recent years. However, one of Fun in the Dark's cars is on display at the Doling Park Museum.

By 1970, Doling Park had a large array of amusement park rides, including a tilt-a-whirl, merry-go-round, row- and pedal-boats, a miniature train and Ferris wheel, kiddies hand car and airplanes, and tub-a-dub (rides floating around in a tub of water), according to the "Doling Park History Book."

A quick downfall

By the late 1970s, the amusement park at Doling was beginning to take a turn for the worse.

In 1977, the Springfield Park Board "temporarily" closed the bumper cars, Wild Mouse, large Ferris wheel and Fun in the Dark coaster at Doling, following a city inspection that indicated the rides violated safety codes.

The inspection report, according to a Springfield Leader and Press story published June 1, 1977, found that the wooden structures on the bumper cars and Wild Mouse had begun to rot and that concrete blocks were cracked. Large cracks in exterior walls were found inside the Fun in the Dark coaster, in addition to the ride's foundation slipping away from the building. And the cable on the large Ferris wheel needed replacement.

Throughout much of June 1977, Morrison, who operated the amusement park under a lease provided by the park board, complained that the closed rides were indeed up to code.

Morrison wasn't the only one who was upset.

Arlis Snyder, who enjoyed the Wild Mouse as a teenager and became the park's concessions operator, believed the closure of the four rides at the park was a "damaging blow," per a story published by the Springfield Leader and Press on June 19, 1977.

The same day, the Springfield Leader and Press ran a letter to the editor from a community member who urged readers to not "give up on Doling Park."

"Doling Park is one of our oldest parks and the Park Board's trying to do away with it," the anonymous author wrote. "We knew the bumper car building needed to be repaired, but why should it be rebuilt for one year? The Wild Mouse has more safety things on it than you think; there's some of the kiddy rides that need to be closed down, but all the rides they closed are the main rides out there."

Nonetheless, a year later, in 1978, the park board sold the roller skating rink and amusement rides, as the necessary maintenance had not been completed. The board used the funds to transform the rink into a community center for seniors. Today, a portion of the original rink wall remains at the center of the park, near the Doling Park Museum.

Visit the Doling Park Museum

Located on the site of the original Doling Skate Rink, the Doling Park Museum is open between April and October. The museum's hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Folks interested in donating or loaning materials to the museum may contact Kennon Ellison at 417-837-5808.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: What happened to amusement park rides at Springfield's Doling Park?