Midway Park

About this property

Midway State Park, located in Maple Springs, New York, was established in 1898 by the Jamestown & Lake Erie Railway as a picnic ground. Today, it is recognized as the fifteenth-oldest continually operating amusement park in the United States, and the fifth-oldest remaining trolley park of the thirteen still operating in the United States. At its origin, Midway Park offered a baseball field, dance pavilion and dining hall, and a sandy beach for bathing. Today, the park uses the original picnic shelters with several more modern additions. The concession building was built in 1915 and still houses the refreshment stands, as well as the Carousel Museum and roller rink. In 1951, the park was purchased by Martin "Red" Walsh, and was later operated by the next generation of the Walsh family, Michael and Janis Walsh, affectionately known as Mr. and Mrs. Midway to the staff and "park regulars." After the 2006 season the park was transferred into the New York State Parks system. Several notable people have visited the park since its opening, including Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., Lucille Ball, and Jack Paar, former host of NBC's The Tonight Show. In 1960, the Glenn Miller Orchestra conducted by Ray McKinley played at the park. Midway State Park has been voted the Best Travel Destination in Chautauqua County by the readers of the Dunkirk Observer. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, as a national historic district. Its 44 acres (18 ha) encompasses 12 contributing buildings, one contributing site, and one contributing object. They include the Lakeside Pavilion (1915), arcade (1930), carousel (1948) and shelter (1924), park office (c. 1950), ice house (c. 1900), owner's residence (late 19th-century), Pavilion 1 (c. 1900), Pavilions 4 and 5 (c. 1920s), and a number of kiddie rides, many of which were built by the Allan Herschell Company. 1894 - The name "Midway" originated when a new steamboat dock was built between existing docks at Point Whiteside and Maple Springs. The other docks at both points were abandoned, and the new dock became known as Midway. 1898 - Midway Park is the name chosen for the picnic grounds of the Jamestown & Lake Erie Railway. They leased 17 acres (69,000 m2) - twelve wooded and five cleared - above Whiteside and nearly opposite Chautauqua Lake from Chautauqua Institution. The park has 500 feet (150 m) of lake front and a sandy beach for bathing. A dance pavilion and dining room were soon built. July 12, 1898 - Formal opening of Midway Park. Music and dancing, baseball, tennis, croquet, bathing, and boating are offered to patrons.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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