Lake Compounce
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Lake Compounce is 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 in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
and Southington, Connecticut that opened in 1846. It is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. It spans , which includes a beach and a
water park A water park (also waterpark, water world, or aquapark) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming ...
called Crocodile Cove, both included in the price of admission. The park is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. In addition to housing the 14th oldest wooden
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 ...
in the world, Wildcat, its newer wooden roller coaster, Boulder Dash, won the Golden Ticket Award for Best Wooden Coaster for five consecutive years.


History

The lake's name is derived from Chief John Compound, a Mattatuck- Tunxis Native American. On December 3, 1684, his tribe signed a deed that left Compound's Lake to a group of white settlers, including John Norton, who had migrated to central Connecticut from Massachusetts. The property was left to the settlers in exchange for a small amount of money and miscellaneous items, including a large brass tea kettle.


Early days

The park's history goes back to 1846, when Gad Norton hired a scientist to perform an experiment using explosives, which failed. The experiment brought large crowds, which inspired Norton to open an amusement park. His park had public swimming and
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...
on the lake, a gazebo for lakeside band concerts, and several rides. The park saw success as a picnic park through the post-
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
era. In 1851, a
California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
49er named Isaac Pierce joined Norton to establish a firm. The two men petitioned local legislators and asked that their residences be ceded from the town of Southington to the town of Bristol. In 1895, a
casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
was built on the property, which was the first permanent building at the site. Later that year, the Bristol and Plainville Tramway Company constructed the Southington and Compounce trolley line. Shortly after, Lake Compounce purchased the Lake Compounce Carousel for $10,000. The Carousel is included in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. In 1914, Lake Compounce opened Green Dragon, the park's first electric-powered roller coaster. The coaster was torn down in 1927 to make room for Wildcat, a wooden coaster designed by Herbert Schmeck and built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The early 1930s brought more growth to the park. The casino was expanded with the addition of a dance floor. An all-time attendance record of 5,000 people was set in the spring of 1941, when
Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...
's reorganized band featured
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
, who had yet to reach the height of his career. The effects of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and the growing usage of the
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
brought trolleys in the United States into a decline, which negatively impacted attendance at Lake Compounce. These same factors had similar effects on other parks in the
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
region, such as Canobie Lake Park and Riverside Park. In 1944, Lake Compounce opened a steam railroad. It was designed and built by Connecticut actor William Gillette, the original actor of
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
in silent films.


New ownership

The park's success was stable until the late 1960s, when attendance began to decline. Lake Compounce remained under the ownership of the Pierce and Norton Corporation until 1966, when Edward G. Pierce sold his share to the Norton family. The Nortons owned and operated the park through 1985 and were able to restore some profitability and raise attendance. No major attractions were added during this time, and the Nortons listed the park for sale in 1984. In 1985, Lake Compounce was sold to the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, owners of Hersheypark in
Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...
, who briefly renamed the park to "Hershey's Lake Compounce". Factors such as poor marketing, low attendance, and repeated ride outages caused Hershey to sell the park after two seasons in 1987, a decision that upset local representatives. In the spring of 1987, Joseph Entertainment Group (JEG), owned by Joseph Balestieri, bought the park and renamed it "Lake Compounce Festival Park". The park received renovations, and in 1988 a 20,000-seat outdoor amphitheater was added. One of the first notable musical acts to perform at the new venue was the group
Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli ( ) was a German duo R&B music act from Munich. The act was created in 1988 by Frank Farian, founder of Boney M., and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers, with the two actual main studio sing ...
, and their live performance was broadcast on
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
in what was later recognized as the first public sign that they were lip-syncing. JEG focused more of their attention on concert promotion and neglected the amusement park portion of the property. The Wildcat roller coaster and other rides were nonoperational by 1991. That year, JEG's financial troubles were exposed when a check the company wrote to
Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
bounced, and the performance was cancelled. It was later discovered that JEG was nearly $900,000 behind in taxes and had not refunded nearly $300,000 to ticket-holders for 15 cancelled concerts. At the end of the 1991 season, Joseph Entertainment Group filed
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
and did not open the park for the 1992 season. The park was put up for sale at a very low price. After being unable to find a buyer, JEG filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and liquidated the park. The land and what was left of the rides and buildings were sold to Stephen Barberino. The park remained closed for the 1992 and 1993 seasons. In 1993, Funtime Parks, owner of Geauga Lake Park and Darien Lake Park, among other parks, became Barberino's management partner. The existing rides were repaired, several new rides were added, and waterslides were constructed on the beach and lake areas. The park reopened for the 1994 season. That year, Funtime merged with Premier Parks, which later became
Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...
. Premier Parks and Barberino then put Lake Compounce up for sale again in 1995. Companies including Cedar Fair, Alpha Smartparks, and the Kennywood Entertainment Company made offers.


Kennywood Entertainment Corporation and Parques Reunidos

Early in 1996, Kennywood Entertainment Company, owners of Pittsburgh's Kennywood amusement park, signed an agreement to purchase Lake Compounce. That year the park added several new rides and a
Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
roller coaster. The park prospered as a family amusement park, rather than a thrill park. In 2000, the roller coaster Boulder Dash was opened, and later received the 2004 Golden Ticket Award for the #1 Wood Roller Coaster from ''
Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
''. In late 2007, Kennywood Entertainment Company sold its parks to the Spain-based
Parques Reunidos Parques Reunidos (meaning "Reunited Parks") is an international entertainment operator based in Madrid, Spain. The group operates over 60 parks in about dozen countries. Parques Reunidos operates theme and amusement parks, zoos, water parks, fami ...
company. More recent plans have included a significant expansion of the Crocodile Cove water park. This has required the moving of nearby Mount Vernon Road to the north to allow the park more room for expansion. The road move was expected to cost $6 million, while the additions to the water park were expected to cost $15 million. In 2013, the park added the Bayou Bay wave pool. In 2014, the park added an off-site campground called Bear Creek Campground with cabins, tent and RV spaces, and a main lodge. The campground was renamed to Lake Compounce Campground in 2021 during park's 175th season. In 2016, the park added a new roller coaster called Phobia Phear Coaster, a Sky Rocket II model from Premier Rides. Phobia Phear Coaster features three linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches and a heartline roll at high. General Manager Jerry Brick stated that the coaster was the biggest investment in the park's history. In early July 2017, Lake Compounce shut down Sky Ride — a twenty-five minute round trip chairlift from the park up to the top of the Southington Mountain ridge. The non-ski chairlift was one of the rides brought to the park by Kennywood Entertainment in 1997. The decommissioning came after a chairlift accident at Six Flags Great Escape on June 24, 2017. The remote and inaccessible nature of the lift's path and terminus on top of Southington Mountain were cited by Brick as reasons for the closing. Both the bumper cars and the trolley ride were removed for the 2024 season.


Herschend Family Entertainment

On March 18, 2025, it was announced that Lake Compounce had been purchased by Herschend Family Entertainment.


Events

During October, the park runs a
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
event called Phantom Fall Fest. Rides still operate during the event, and when the sun goes down, scare actors roam the park and four haunted houses open. Before sunset, there are no scare actors or haunted houses, allowing for children to enjoy the park scare-free. During December, the park holds a Christmas experience for adults and children. There is a selection of children's and family rides open, as well as a place to meet Santa. The event also features a 100-foot-tall Christmas tree, which is the largest in Connecticut.


Former events

The park's former Halloween event was known as The Haunted Graveyard. Many of the park's rides were operated after dark, and a haunted house called The Haunted Graveyard operated as well. The attraction consisted of a 45-minute walk-through of catacombs, castles, special effects, and graveyards. The Haunted Graveyard started in 1991 and relocated to Lake Compounce in 2001, returning every year until its final year in 2020. Portions of the proceeds were donated towards the
American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...
and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.


Attractions


Former attractions


References


External links


Official website

Haunted Graveyard official website
* {{LC Rides Amusement parks in Connecticut 1846 establishments in Connecticut Tourist attractions in Hartford County, Connecticut Buildings and structures in Bristol, Connecticut Southington, Connecticut Parques Reunidos Amusement parks opened in 1846