The History of Riverview essays

The History of Riverview essays Riverview Park was an amusement park that ran from 1904 to1967. It was Chicagos first amusement park. It was billed as the worlds largest Amusement Park throughout its 64-year popularity. To many it was a rite of passage and their earliest child hood memories. It was a place of fabulous family outings, a magical kingdom where good friends could go for a terrific time, and eventually a romantic spot. Riverview was located on Western and Belmont Avenues in Chicago. It was surrounded by the Chicago River and Lane Tech High School. The Der Nord Chicago Schuetzenverien, a spin-off group of the Kriegs Verein of Chicago, purchased the land bounded by the Chicago River and the above avenues in order to use it as a shooting range. They later changed their name to the North Chicago Sharpshooters Association. The 22-acre park was dubbed Schuetzen Park by the Germans, and Sharpshooters Park by the locals, who began asking the private association if their grounds could be rented for picnics . Around the turn of the century, the Sharpshooters Association dissolved and two members purchased the land. The two members were Wilhelm (William) A. Schmidt, a baker, and his partner George Goldman. Wihelm Schmidt put in swings and some rides for the ladies and children and Riverview was born. After it had opened Wihelms son George began to expand the park with ideas he had picked up in Europe from such parks as Tivoli Gardens. He suggested that they add rides to grounds and with the help of a financial backer Riverview became a full-blown amusement park in 1904. With the opening of the new Riverview Amusement park came three substantial rides. The three great rides were the Strat-O-Stat plane, the Carousel, and The Chutes. The first ride, the Start-O-Stat was also known as the Aero-O-Stat Plane. It was a plane that circled around the center tower and began to pick up speed and height as the rid...