Freedomland U.S.A.

For other things called Freedomland, see Freedomland (disambiguation).

Freedomland U.S.A.

Slogan	The World's Largest Outdoor Family Entertainment Center
Location	The Bronx, New York, United States
Coordinates
Owner	Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood
Opened	June 19, 1960
Closed	1964
Operating season	5
Area	85 acres (34 ha)
Rides
Total	28
Roller coasters	1
Water rides	6

Freedomland U.S.A. (usually called just Freedomland) was a short-lived, American history-themed amusement park in the Baychester area in the northeastern part of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Its slogan was "The World's Largest Entertainment Center" (later, "The World's Largest Outdoor Family Entertainment Center").

Freedomland opened on June 19, 1960. It closed at the end of the 1964 season when it failed to make a profit.

Connections to Walt Disney

Freedomland was conceived by Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood (1920–1992), a young Texan who had previously worked in the planning, construction, and management of Disneyland. Hired by Walt Disney in 1953, Wood was the person who selected the orange grove site in Anaheim, California, where Disneyland was eventually built. Wood became very close to Disney during the next two years, but eventually the two men had a falling out. Reasons for this are unclear, but three theories exist: Wood was embezzling money from the park; Wood was taking too much public credit for Disneyland; or Wood had betrayed Disney by planning his own amusement parks, effectively stealing Disney's original concept. However, by January 1956, Wood had been fired from Disneyland. To this day, The Walt Disney Company refuses to acknowledge any role played by Wood in the creation of the first Disney theme park.

In 1956, the 36-year-old Wood began planning and building three of his own amusement parks across the country. In 1958, Wood opened Magic Mountain near Denver (closed in 1960 but revitalized in Southern California in 1971), Pleasure Island in Wakefield, Massachusetts, in 1959 (closed in 1969), and finally Freedomland in 1960. Wood's partner was Milton T. ("Ted") Raynor, a television sports producer and attorney, who served as Freedomland's president.

Construction and opening

The park's original concept was history-based and the layout was arranged in the shape of a large map of the contiguous United States with guests entering at the approximate location of Washington, D.C. Baychester Avenue at the park's western edge (roughly) represented the border with Canada. Freedomland was divided into different themed areas based on the history of the United States, each with its own attractions, shops, and restaurants. This made Freedomland a true theme park with one real theme. The research and design team consisted of 200 top artists and architects, including 19 Academy Award nominees. Original music for the park was written by Jule Styne, composer of many Broadway musicals, including Gypsy and Funny Girl.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for Freedomland took place on August 26, 1959. On March 24, 1960, six unfinished buildings were demolished by fire and had to be razed. Freedomland was built on the site of a former municipal landfill. Although the property was spread out over 205 acres (0.83 km²), the actual amusement park itself was just 85 acres (340,000 m²) – larger than Disneyland's 65 acres (260,000 m²). The park could accommodate 32,000 visitors at one time (90,000 during the course of a day) and boasted 8 miles (13 km) of navigable waterways and lakes, 10,000 newly planted trees, 18 restaurants and snack bars, and parking for 72,000 cars. It cost $65 million to build. The area was a swampy one connecting the Hutchinson River and the drainage into Westchester Creek, and was not entirely filled. This led to a profusion of mosquitoes during much of the season. The swampy bottom would later complicate the construction of the Co-op City housing complex on the site. The construction of Freedomland and subsequent construction of Co-op City have contributed to large areas of salt marsh degradation.

On June 18, 1960, Freedomland was dedicated in a ceremony with 5,000 people in attendance. The following day, June 19, the park officially opened with 65,000 visitors. That same evening, The Ed Sullivan Show presented a promotional tour of the park and referred to it as Disneyland's equal on the East Coast. By June 20, the second day of operation, Freedomland was forced to stop selling tickets because of traffic jams leading to the park. Freedomland's operating hours were from 9:30 a.m. until midnight (later 10 a.m. to midnight), seven days a week, from May through October. The Moon Bowl was also opened for occasional off-season performances.

Themed areas and attractions

Freedomland opened with seven different themed areas (later expanded to eight), each representing a location and era of U.S. History. They were:

Little Old New York (1850–1900)

• Grape Juice Bar – A beverage bar
• Harbor Tug Boats – A boat ride through the Great Lakes
• Horse Trolley – A 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge tram ride to the Chicago area
• Horseless Carriage – An antique car ride in a 1909 model Cadillac through a mock-up of New England
• Ice Cream Parlor – Ice cream parlor designed in an 1890s style
• Political Pep Rally – A live street show that included a German Band, an 1880s Tammany speech, rallying suffragettes and a New York gangland robbery of the Little Old New York Bank
• R.H. Macy – "A recreation of the first store in Macy*s department store chain."
• Schaefer's Brewery – An old-fashioned brewery sponsored by Schaefer Beer
• Shuntz's Delicatessen – Served New York style Pastrami and Corned Beef Sandwiches with Cheesecake for dessert. Operated by Brass Rail Restaurants

Chicago (1871)

• The Chicago Fire – A live street show every 20 minutes during which fake Chicago buildings "burn" and are put out by actors portraying firemen and audience volunteers; it was based on the Great Chicago Fire of 1871
• Chippewa War Canoes – A boat ride in which the guests paddle canoes, led by an Indian guide
• Curio Shop – A souvenir shop
• Great Lakes Cruise – A boat ride through the Great Lakes on one of two 110-foot, 400 passenger sternwheel boat, complete with calliopes
• Great Lakes Snack Stand – A snack bar
• Indian Village – A mock teepee village which housed Northwestern Indians making handicrafts for sale
• Santa Fe Railroad Station – One of two stations on the park's 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Santa Fe Railroad; the ride was six minutes in duration
• Stockyards Restaurant – A steak restaurant

The Great Plains (1803–1900)

• Borden's Barn Boudoir – A fully furnished apartment for the Borden Company's mascot, Elsie the Cow
• Borden's Farm – A working farm exhibit sponsored by the Borden Food Company that included horses, cows, sheep, pigs, poultry, corn and hay
• Cavalry Rifles – A shooting gallery
• Chuck Wagon Snack Stand – A snack bar
• Fort Cavalry – A log-by-log replica of an Army stockade
• Fort Cavalry Stage Line – A stage coach ride past a buffalo herd, through the Rocky Mountains that ended with a mock robbery by actors playing outlaws
• Horse-Drawn Station Wagons – A transportation ride through Fort Cavalry and Borden's Farm
• Milk Bar – A beverage bar
• Mule-Go-Round – A merry-go-round pulled by western mules
• Pony Express – A transportation ride to The Old Southwest area

San Francisco (1906)

• Barbary Coast – A mock-up of San Francisco's entertainment district
• Chinatown – A mock-up of San Francisco's Chinese district, with shops and restaurants
• Chinese Restaurant
• Fisherman's Wharf – A snack stand with an actor dressed as an old salty seaman telling stories
• Hollywood Arena (added c. 1962) – An amphitheater with animal acts and big top stunts, it also featured appearance from television personalities such as Sonny Fox, Joe Bolton, Claude Kirchner and Fred Scott
• Horse-Drawn Surreys – A transportation ride to the Southwest area
• Indian Trading Post – A souvenir shop
• Italian Restaurant
• Northwest Fur Trapper – A boat ride adventure, similar to Disney's Jungle Cruise
• Oriental Bazaar – Souvenir shops
• Santa Fe Railroad Station – The second stop on the Santa Fe Railroad
• San Francisco Earthquake – A dark ride that simulates the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
• Seal Pool – A display of real Pacific harbor seals on rocks

The Old Southwest (1890)

• Burro Trail – An outdoor ride on real burros
• Casa Loca – A walk-though house where the law of gravity is repealed
• Gunfight – A live street show with actors having a Western gun fight
• Mexican Market – Souvenir shops
• Mexican Restaurant – A restaurant with a patio
• Mine Caverns – A dark ride on an underground mine train through lava pits, giant bats and cave monsters
• Opera House and Saloon – A soft drink bar and 30 minute stage show featuring a four-piece band, dancing girls, singers and Western comedians
• Texas Longhorns – An actual herd of steers with a cowboy looking after them
• Tucson Mining Company – A 2 passenger double Vonroll type 101 skyrideAn aerial lift ride to the top of the Rockies in gondolas designed to look like bucket ore cars

New Orleans-Mardi Gras

• Buccaneers – A pirate-themed boat ride, similar to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
• Civil War – A horse-drawn wagon adventure ride through recreations of American Civil War battle ground, camps, derailed trains and burning houses, which ends in the middle of a mock battle
• Crystal Maze – The world's first glass-walled house of mirrors maze
• Danny the Dragon – A ride on a 74-foot (23 m) long fire breathing dragon, suitable for children
• Kandy Kane Lane – A children's play area with a helicopter ride, a swan boat ride, a toy fair and a sandpile
• King Rex Carrousel – A merry-go-round
• Mardi Gras Snack Stand – A snack bar
• New Orleans Restaurant
• Pirate Gun Gallery – A shooting gallery
• Plantation restaurant
• Pop Corn Stand
• Spin-A-Top – A spinning ride, similar to Disney's Tea Cups ride
• Tornado Adventure – A dark ride that simulates driving though the cone of Louisiana twister

Satellite City-The Future

• Blast-Off Bunker – An authentic reproduction of a Cape Canaveral control room in which visitors could witness a simulated rocket launch from start to finish
• Moon Bowl (added c. 1961) – A performing arts stage and 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) dance floor that featured celebrity performers and guests, including Paul Anka, Count Basie, Dick Clark, Brenda Lee, Patti Page, the Everly Brothers, the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Harry James Orchestra, Xavier Cugat and Abbe Lane, Ricky Nelson, the Lennon Sisters, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin, and the stars of Car 54, Where Are You?, Fred Gwynne and Joe E. Ross. At every performance, Chick Darrow was the Master of Ceremonies.
• Moving Lake Walk – An automated moving sidewalk across a lake
• Satellite City Turnpike – A miniature auto ride in futuristic cars
• Space Rover – A simulation of a space journey in a 250-seat theatre designed to look like the inside of a rocket
• Satellite City Snack Bar
• Special Exhibits – An area which presented exhibits about modern science and industry

A moving cable bucket ride, with several buckets, took people over the Rockies from the Southwest border to the Canadian border.

State Fair Midway (added in 1962)

• Astro-Ride – A space-themed roller coaster
• Harbor Tugboats – A new dock for the old ride
• Wriggly Worm

Additional areas (never constructed)

• Florida – Was planned as an area below Satellite City, on the recreation of the Florida peninsula
• Movie Lot – Presumably a recreation of a Hollywood set, this was to be located below San Francisco

Failure and demolition

In its opening season Freedomland had already begun to run into major problems, both financially and otherwise. On June 25, 1960, almost a week after the park opened, a stagecoach overturned in the Great Plains section of the park, injuring ten people. Three of the victims were hospitalized, including one with a snapped spine. The park initially denied any responsibility until a visitor publicly released a photograph of the accident. Eventually, the injured parties filed lawsuits against the park. Two months later, on August 28, 1960, the front office was robbed of $28,836 by four armed men, who escaped in a boat. They were caught two weeks later and jailed the following year.

By the end of the 1961 season, Freedomland was already $8 million in debt. As it struggled to break even, the theme of the park was changed in an effort to appeal to more teenagers. The history exhibits and events would be joined by more conventional amusements, such as bumper cars, roller coasters, fireworks displays, and concerts, which broadened the appeal of the park. These changes resulted in a lawsuit. On September 5, 1962, Benjamin Moore, a paint company that sponsored an exhibit in Satellite City, sued Freedomland for $150,000 in damages. The company wanted to void their lease for their exhibit space, owing to "historical and educational" changes to the park's character. The suit was later dismissed.

On September 14, 1964, citing competition from the 1964 New York World's Fair, Freedomland filed for bankruptcy and was torn down. This remains a questionable reason since the World's Fair would be finished after 1965. There is a more conspiratorial explanation to the demise of Freedomland, however. Some sources speculate that powerful New York City real estate magnates developed Freedomland with an original intent of converting the 400-acre (160 ha) plot into what would become an enormous cooperative housing complex. By demonstrating that large structures could operate on the converted marshland without having incurred damage or settling problems, the developers became eligible for property variances that greatly accelerated a 15-to-20-year planning period before construction could proceed. Quick profits would be gained by the sale of the land for the Co-op City housing development that would be built mostly on Freedomland's parking lot.

Freedomland filed for bankruptcy and was torn down starting in late 1965 as the park stayed closed for the 1965 season. Interestingly, Freedomland was built at a time when the traditional New York City amusement area of Coney Island was in a state of continuing decline; in the year that Freedomland closed, in 1964, Coney Island's last integrated amusement park, Steeplechase Park, was also shuttered.

The site of the former park is now occupied by the large residential development Co-op City and the Bay Plaza Shopping Center. In 2013 a plaque commemorating the park was installed near its one-time entrance.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood died in March 1992. Ironically, the Walt Disney Company opened up an area of nightclubs at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake called Pleasure Island, which was the same name as Wood's most successful amusement park.

Surviving rides

Many of the Freedomland rides and attractions were sold to other parks and relocated.

• The Crystal Maze, Danny the Dragon, The Mine Caverns, and the Tornado Adventure were moved to The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Lake George, New York, over the course of a few years after Freedomland's closing. The Crystal Maze lasted into the late 1970s/early 1980s until it was converted into a concession stand. In 2006, the Crystal Maze's signature curlicue roof design was removed, leaving only the basic structure intact. In the late 1990s, Danny the Dragon was removed from park operations and placed in storage. In 2005, the Mine Caverns, which had been closed since the late 1990s, were gutted and removed. In 2003, the Tornado Adventure was removed and placed in storage as well.
• The two Santa Fe Railroad stations were moved to Clark's Trading Post, an amusement park in Lincoln, New Hampshire. There is also a replica of Casa Loca, built from the same blueprints. Other Freedomland items that appear at Clark's include bricks from Little Old New York, seats from Space Rover, and street lamps from all over the park.
• The Canadian, one of the two sternwheelers from The Great Lakes Cruise, is docked on the Byram River between Greenwich, Connecticut, and Port Chester, New York.
• San Francisco Earthquake and Buccaneers were moved to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1966. Earthquake closed in 1985 and Pirate Ride followed in 1996; however, elements of both rides still exist in the park and in storage.

See also

• Edaville Railroad

External links

• Rob Friedman's Freedomland Website
• Freedomland U.S.A. at the Roller Coaster DataBase
• Website dedicated to Cornelius Wood's Pleasure Island amusement park (1959 – 1969)
• Traveltime: Freedomland – 1963 Promotional Film (Prelinger Archives)
• Freedomland
• Bowery Boys Podcast on Freedomland