Luna Park, Arlington

Luna Park (also known as Washington Luna Park and Luna Park Washington D.C.) was a trolley park in Alexandria County (now Arlington County), Virginia, that operated between 1906 and 1915.[1][2][3] The Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway (later the Washington-Virginia Railway) constructed the amusement park for $350,000 in collaboration with the facility's designer and operator, Frederick Ingersoll.[1][3][4][5][6]

For other amusement parks known by the same name, see Luna Park.

The park occupied 34 acres (140,000 m2) near the present intersection of South Glebe Road and Richmond Highway (U. S. Route 1).[1][6] Exhibits were housed in buildings displaying different architecture styles (Japanese, Moorish, Gothic).[5] The park featured a figure eight roller coaster, a shoot-the-chutes ride, a ballroom, restaurants, picnic facilities for 3,000 people and an arena that sat 8,000 spectators and accommodated circuses.[5][6][7] Billboard magazine described the park in 1908 as having "big dumb acts".[3]

Luna Park was one of several amusement parks that Ingersoll operated in 1905 and 1906 (including Indianola Park in Columbus, Ohio, Rocky Glen Park near Moosic, Pennsylvania, and Luna Parks in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Scranton, and Mexico City). Although Ingersoll's amusement park empire was drastically reduced as a result of his declaration of bankruptcy in 1911,[8] he retained his interest in the Alexandria County park.

On the morning of August 20, 1906, four elephants from a traveling show performing at Luna Park escaped. It took several days to round them up. One wandered as far as Baileys Crossroads; another, 20 miles south of Alexandria.[6][7][9]

On April 15, 1915, a fire destroyed the park's signature roller coaster. According to The Washington Post, "the origin of the fire is thought to have been from sparks from a blaze in the woods adjoining the park" (the nearest fire hydrant was miles away in Alexandria).[4] The damage was extensive, and the park's precarious finances forced the park to go out of business. The structures in the park were mostly dismantled later in the year, though traces of the park were evident as late as 1988.[6] The Arlington County sewage treatment facility now covers the park's site.[2][6]

Notes
  1. (1) "Vintage Amusement and Theme Parks". NorVApics.
    (2)""Transportation" marker". HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  2. Rose, C.B. (1976). Luna Park. Arlington County, Virginia: a history. Arlington County, Virginia: Arlington Historical Society. p. 160. OCLC 2401541. Retrieved February 17, 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. "Parks: Pleasure Resorts: Summer Gardens: District of Columbia: Washington". The Billboard. Cincinnati, Ohio. 20 (31): 45. August 1, 1908. Retrieved February 17, 2018 – via Google Books. Luna Park (plays big dumb acts), Frederick Ingersoll, designer: Chas. J. Goodfellow, mgr.
  4. "Luna Park-1915". Arlington Fire Journal. June 24, 2009.
  5. "Luna Park". Arlington Public Library: A Pictorial History of Arlington - Area H Neighborhoods. Government of Arlington County, Virginia. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010.
  6. Suydam, Marty (2016). "From Trolley Park to Sewage Treatment: Luna Park". The Arlington Historical Magazine. The Arlington Historical Society, Inc. 15 (4): 45–47. ISSN 0066-7684. OCLC 1802280.
  7. McClellan, Jim; Raybuck, Shirley (2012). "Great Northern Virginia Elephant Hunt or The Pachyderm Panic of 1906" (PDF). The Northern Virginia Review. Northern Virginia Community College. 26: 87–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  8. Pitz, Marylynne (September 1, 2008). "Luna Park's luminary: Entrepreneur/roller coaster designer deserves his due". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  9. Kelly, John (April 18, 2010). "The untruncated tale of the great elephant 'escape'". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2017.

References
  • Templeman, Eleanor Lee (1959), Arlington Heritage: Vignettes of a Virginia County, Arlington, Virginia: the author, LCCN 59010491, OCLC 181357859


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