Eldridge Park opening celebrates 100 years of amusement
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – Elmira’s Eldridge Park is celebrating the opening of its 100th season on Friday. An honor ride will be held at 4:45 p.m. A “100th Anniversary Gala Event” will be held in the Dance Hall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Chemung County Historical Society in Elmira is also marking the milestone with a new exhibit featuring historic amusement items and photographs.
“We are celebrating the 100th year of having amusement at Eldridge Park,” said Erin Doane, Senior Curator at the Chemung County Historical Society. “Back in 1924 when Bob Long came with his carousel that really set a new era for the park. So, we’re celebrating that here at the museum by showing off some of the items that are actually online from Eldridge Park and some pieces from our own collection.”
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“We have 26 pieces. The biggest one obviously is the lion,” Doane said. That was on the original carousel that came here in 1924. That was the carousel that ran until the park actually closed in 1980s. The pieces got sold off. The mechanism actually stayed, the motor that ran the carousel around stayed in the park. So that’s original and was used to rebuild the merry-go-round.”
“The speedway roller coaster, it was 1937 when the roller coaster was added to the park. Everybody remembers loving it. It was one of those great old fashioned wooden roller coasters. It had the sounds of the wooden roller coaster, and it was just so much fun to ride.”
“They did have another roller coaster back in the day. It was actually a gravity roller coaster, another wooden one and it was completely gravity powered,” Doane added.
“This car is entirely original to Eldridge Park. This was one that was on their Turnpike Ride and it is entirely original. The park also had a miniature railroad. They actually billed it as the smallest steam railway in the world whether that was true or not. I have no way of knowing. But it was fairly popular.”
“It was really neat place. They had a racetrack where they did horse racing. They had a casino which I really wish we could get that back. It wasn’t a gambling casino. It was a place where people would go and eat in the restaurant, but it had six stories of balconies that you could go in and see a fantastic panoramic view of the area.”
“Dr. Edwin Eldridge was the reason why we have Eldridge Park. He bought 100 plus acres of land it was mostly swampy, had the lake in the middle and he decided to make it a park. He wasn’t medical doctor, but he got involved in business and entrepreneurship. This is something that we want people to go to the park enjoy it today. Come here and experience what it was like and share their memories,” Doane said.
For more information on the Eldridge Park Exhibit, visit the Chemung County Historical Society.
For more information on Eldridge Park and hours of operation, visit the park’s Facebook page.
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