White City was an amusement park located in Shrewsbury, a suburb of

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. It bordered

Lake Quinsigamond Lake Quinsigamond (also ''Long Pond'') is a body of water situated between the city of Worcester and the town of Shrewsbury in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 4 miles (6 km) long, between 50 and 85 feet (15 and 26 m) d ...

and ran from 1905 to 1960.

History

White City was founded by local businessman Horace H. Bigelow. The park opened on June 18, 1905 and was open for 55 seasons, closing for the last time on September 5, 1960. Its lifespan was atypical of American amusement parks of its day (most of which were short-lived, failing to survive past the onset of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

). Like many such parks, White City was a

trolley park Trolley may refer to: Vehicles and components * Tram, or trolley or streetcar, a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks * Trolleybus, or trolley, an electric bus drawing power from overhead wires using trolley poles ** Trolleytruck, a trolleyb ...

, built at the end of a trolley line to increase ridership on weekends. White City bordered

and included the waters of the lake in some its attractions, such as boat rides, the "Whirl of Air Ships" ride which swung patrons out over the water, and trained diving horses. White City's other attractions were typical of parks of this type: a midway, a fun house, a penny arcade,

concession stand A concession stand (American English, Canadian English), snack kiosk or snack bar (British English, Irish English) is a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, amusement park, zoo, aquarium, circus, fair, stadium, b ...

s, rides,

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten ...

acts, a roller coaster. White City also included a roller-skating rink, a ballroom, and a stage where musical acts and, later, pop stars (Paul Anka, Jerry Vale, Edie Gorme) performed. The park's original roller coaster opened in 1914.. It was replaced by a world-class (at the time) coaster, the Zip, in 1928. The Zip, designed by Herbert Schenck, remained in service until the park's closing, although it was later renamed the Cyclone and later still the Yankee Clipper. An early White City tagline was "Land of Fifty Thousand Electric Lights", which is sometimes cited as the source of the park's name, along with the white color of its structures. Most likely, though, the park was named for the famous White City at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. " White City" was a popular name for amusement parks of the time, being borne by parks in Springfield (Missouri), Atlanta,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New Haven,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Syracuse (New York), London, Sydney, Melbourne, and other places as well.

Spag's Spag's was a discount department store on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. The store was considered an early pioneer of discount retailing and was notable for its longtime resistance to accepting charge cards (until 1992), offering plastic ...

discount department store, a regional fixture from 1934 to 2004, was located east of White City. After the park closed, the White City Plaza shopping center was built on part of the site.

References

Article, "Lake Quinsigamond And White City"European Coaster Club databaseincoasterpaedia

Bibliography

* Perna, Michael Jr. ''Lake Quinsigamond and White City Amusement Park'' (Images of America series), Arcadia Publishing, 2004.

External links

*{{RCDB, 5350, White City
Local reminisces of White City
Amusement parks in Massachusetts Defunct amusement parks in the United States 1905 establishments in Massachusetts 1960 disestablishments in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links