Luna Park, Alexandria facts for kids
Luna Park was a fun amusement park in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington D.C. It was also known as Washington Luna Park. This park was open for almost ten years, from 1906 to 1915.
A railway company called the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway built the park. They spent about $500,000 (a lot of money back then!) to build it in just three months. They wanted to bring more people to their train lines after some nearby racing and gambling places closed down.
Frederick Ingersoll, a famous amusement park designer, created Luna Park. It opened in May 1906 with many rides, shows, music, and picnic areas. Even though it was popular for a while, the park never made much money. Fewer and fewer visitors came over the years. In 1915, a fire destroyed the main roller coaster, and the park closed soon after. Today, part of the old Luna Park site is used for a sewage treatment facility.
Building the Park
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In the late 1800s, the area across from Washington, D.C., was called Jackson City. It was supposed to be a place for factories. But after the American Civil War, it became known for gambling and racetracks. People even called it the "Monte Carlo of the East."
In 1903, a new county attorney named Crandal Mackey wanted to stop the gambling. When the police didn't act, he gathered 30 local people. They marched through Jackson City, breaking up the gambling spots. These actions closed down the gambling businesses.
With the gambling places gone, the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Railway needed a new way to attract passengers. So, they hired Frederick Ingersoll to design Luna Park. Ingersoll had already built about 40 other amusement parks, including other Luna Parks in different cities.
The railway company created a special company, the Washington Luna Park Company, in late 1905. The park was built on about 40 acres of an old farm. This spot was already a popular place for picnics. Workers moved a huge amount of dirt to prepare the site. They even found some mysterious underground rooms!
The park cost about $500,000 to build. A special train line, called the "Luna Park Special," connected the park to the trolley system. This made it only a 12-minute train ride from Washington, D.C. The railway spent extra money to build this line and power the park's many electric lights.
Park Fun and Attractions
Luna Park opened on the evening of May 28, 1906. The railway had 20 streetcars ready to take visitors to the park every three minutes. The opening night had musicians, dancers, jugglers, and comedy acts. On Memorial Day, over 30,000 people visited the park! The Washington Post newspaper said the park was well-managed and orderly, partly because alcohol was not allowed.
The park's entrance had an Egyptian-style tower with a bright searchlight. The main path, called "The Great Trail," had food stands and attractions. At night, 80,000 electric lights lit up the park! Buildings in the park had different styles, like Japanese, Moorish, Gothic, and Byzantine.
Luna Park had many exciting things to do:
- Throwing games
- A Figure 8 roller coaster
- A "shoot-the-chutes" ride that dropped 150 feet into a lagoon
- A scenic river ride that wound through the park, with scenes like the Arctic and tropics
- A large ballroom
- A casino
- Restaurants
- A bandstand with 2,000 free seats for concerts
- Picnic areas for 3,000 people
- An 8,000-seat arena for circuses and aerial shows
- A hospital that offered free medical help to guests
The park also hosted special events like air shows with famous pilots and fireworks displays.
Sometimes, Luna Park rented special acts from Coney Island in New York, like a diving horse and trained elephants. One morning in August 1906, four elephants from a traveling show escaped! They caused a lot of excitement and some damage as they wandered around. It took several days and the help of a showman named Pawnee Bill to find and capture all the elephants.
The park kept adding new attractions over the years. In 1907, it added a skating rink. Later, it even had an airship ride called "A Trip to the Moon."
Park Closure
Even though Luna Park was popular at first, it never made enough money to be truly successful. People in Washington D.C. often chose to visit other parks that were closer. So, fewer and fewer visitors came to Luna Park over time.
On April 15, 1915, a fire broke out and destroyed the park's main roller coaster. Dry weather had caused many fires in the area, and this one might have started from burning bushes nearby. Luckily, the wind kept the fire from spreading to the rest of the park. But with the park already struggling financially, losing the roller coaster was too much. Luna Park had to close its doors for good.
The park site sat empty for several years. In 1918, many of the attractions were taken apart, some to be used in other parks. There were talks about reopening Luna Park, but it never happened. For many years, you could still see parts of the old park. Today, a sewage treatment facility covers part of the original Luna Park site.
Images for kids
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Postcard advertising the "Shoot the Chutes" ride at Luna Park
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Alexandria, 1894. Jackson City is at center top; the site that would be developed into Luna Park is the 50-acre plot of Edw. D. Crane, just north of Four Mile Run.
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Main entrance gates before opening, May 1906. The side of the gate housed offices and a telegraph and telephone booth.
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A Sanborn map of Luna Park, November 1907. The entrance and rail lines are to the right edge, with the rollercoaster at the top and attractions sprawling south.
