For anyone who remembers when Rocky Point Park was THE place to go in the summertime!
In the 1840s, Captain William Winslow began to land his passengers on the land we now refer to as Rocky Point for Sunday outings. By 1847, he had purchased a portion of the land and began to offer amusements and shore dinners.
Colonel Harrington was the second owner, and billed the park as New England's most beautiful amusement park on a 1918 advertisement. By this time, the rail line provided easier access to the popular spot which featured a Looff Ferris wheel, a circle swing (and a version that swung in the ocean), and a flume type coaster called the Russian Toboggan which was destroyed in the Gale of 1938.
Other coasters included a Looff coaster, a tumble-bug, the Wildcat, a Thompson scenic railway, and the interesting Flying Turns in which cars raced through tubes without tracks.
These early coasters were replaced by the Cyclone, the saltwater Flume, and the Corkscrew in later years. The famous saltwater pool was installed in the 1930s, only to be paved over in the last years of the park. Other popular rides included the Skydiver, the 60s themed Musik Express, and the Spider along with the House of Horrors and the Freefall (which was 13 stories tall and fell at 55 mph).
In 1996, the park fell into bankruptcy and auctioned off many of the major rides. It attempted a comeback as the Rocky Point Family Fair with rented rides for the '96 season, but the crowds were sparse. The Shore dinner hall remained open for a year or two after that, and eventually, the land wasn't used at all.
In June of 2000, a fire broke out in the Dodge-em house, causing some damage to the structures around it. The mayor of Warwick called for the demolition of the remaining structures (including all the midway buildings and the House of Horrors).
In July, 2003, Rocky Point was sold to the U.S. Small Business Administration for $8.5 million. The agency holds the 123-acre property for proposals to redevelop the site into a summer or year round community. Local residents would rather see a publicly accessible park open to all residents, to once again be able to enjoy the waterfront, instead of the proposals to turn the property into a gated community.
This group was formed to remember the park in it's glory days. Please feel free to share your favorite memories from the park and to invite your friends into the group.
Thank you.
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