Krug Park (currently known as Gallagher Park) was an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

located at 2936 North 52nd Street in the Benson neighborhood of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, United States at the turn of the 20th century."Krug's Park."
Nebraska's Memories. Retrieved 2015-03-27. In 1930, Krug Park was the site of the deadliest

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

accident in the nation's history."Survivor recalls Krug Park tragedy,"
KETV.com. Retrieved 2007-09-08.

History

Charles Tietz, an early Omaha

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

pioneer, founded the park in 1895. In 1902 the Frederick Krug Brewing Company bought it and ran it as Krug Park, a

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

with amusement rides. Rides included a tunnel of love, an

ice cream parlor Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are parlor that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard- ...

, and a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

Dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

s performed nightly in a

dance pavilion Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term applied ...

Swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

s, a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

, a

wave In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...

machine, and a two-story

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were added in 1918. Fred Krug referred to it as "a complete amusement park." Early advertisements referred to Krug Park as "Omaha's Polite Resort."

Roller coaster incident

The most deadly roller coaster accident in the United States up to 1930 happened at Krug Park. On July 24, the park's "Big Dipper" roller coaster crashed. After 6 p.m., a bolt worked loose and four cars full of children and teenagers plunged to the ground. Four people, Ruth Claire Farrell (15), Herschel Stout (34), Tony Politika (22) and Gladys Lundgren (29), were killed and 17 were injured. The

Omaha City Council The City Council of Omaha, Nebraska, is elected every four years on a nonpartisan basis. The next election will occur in 2025. Omaha has a strong mayor form of government. Members are elected by district. Currently seven city council districts ...

immediately passed an ordinance banning roller coasters in Omaha. Krug Park stayed open but business declined afterwards, and it closed in 1940.

Gallagher Park

It was landscaped into a traditional style park in 1955. It has been renamed Gallagher Park, and is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

. The current park is and contains three ball fields, a playground, and a city swimming pool featuring a water slide, diving boards, and additional water play features."Gallagher Leisure Pool"
City of Omaha website. Retrieved 2010-05.

References

External links

Video of Krug Park accident survivorHistoric postcard of the roller coasterHistoric postcard of "The Annex"
*{{RCDB, 5653, Krug Park
Historic Postcards
Nebraska Memories History of North Omaha, Nebraska 1892 establishments in Nebraska 1940 disestablishments in Nebraska Defunct amusement parks in the United States Amusement parks in Omaha, Nebraska Amusement park accidents Former buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska

History

Roller coaster incident

Gallagher Park

See also

References

External links