Gaslight Village: Lake George Fun Yesterday
by Editorial Staff
I thought I'd take a look at the history of the one of the more popular Adirondack theme parks - Lake George's Gaslight Village.
Gaslight Village opened in 1959 and was run by Charley Wood. Charley already owned a number of investments including Holiday House on the shores of Lake George, and Storytown, U.S.A., an amusement park with a Mother Goose rhymes theme (later expanded with Ghost Town, a western boot-hill theme, and Jungle Land, an animal park) which he opened in 1954. He later went on to build the Tiki Resort (now a Howard Johnson's), a short lived wax museum, Sun Castle resort, and more.
Owing to the success of Storytown (now known as Six Flags Great Escape), Charlie opened Gaslight Village in 1959 on the site of the former Delaware and Hudson Railroad's Lake George rail yards (where the turntable stood). You can see a number of early photos of the area here.
A small vase sold on e-Bay a few years ago reads "Gaslight Village Pottersville, NY" indicating that the original location of the theme park may have been in the hamlet of Pottersville in Chestertown at the foot of Schroon Lake. Anyone with information about this little known bit of history, please drop us a note.
Of course Gaslight Village was well known for it's "yesterday's fun today" radio and television commercials. It's "Gay Nineties" theme was actually more popular among adults then children, perhaps by design. While Story Town closed at 5:30 pm, Gaslight Village didn't get rolling until about that time (they were open noon to 10:30 pm).
The park was designed by Arto Monaco, who designed the popular Santa's Workshop and Land of Make Believe in Essex County. You can see a lot of pictures of the Gaslight Village while it was open here, and the Urban Exploration Resource has photos of the area after it was abandoned.
A big part of the charm of the park was it's entertainment which utilized a two-way stage that, with seating for one thousand, allowed for vaudeville acts to perform outside during nice weather and inside the Opera House when the weather was inclement. Nearby the Palace Theater had continuous showings of silent movies including those featuring Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. Around the bandstand special comedy performances where often held, such as those by a pack of Keystone Cops. The them park also hosted sing-alongs, melodramas, and an Ice Revue.
Among the featured rides assembled for the park were an 1800 Merry Go-Round, an 1825 Bicycle ride by George Tilyou (founder of Coney Island's Steeplechase Park), the Green Monster, Mexican Scrambler, a Ferris Wheel, the Shaving Mug, a Paratrooper, the Round-Up, Bumper Cars, and the classic dark ride Flight to Mars which came to Gaslight Village by way of Palisades Park and Coney Island.
Many folks remember Charley's large classic and antique car collection which was installed in the Carriage Shop (later dubbed the Cavalcade of Cars) until it was moved to its own building (with a separate entrance fee) across the street. A Fifth Avenue Double Decker Bus was in operation around the park offering rides as was a horse drawn trolley. The car collection included the 1933 Duesenberg once owned by Greta Garbo (later sold to a Texan for 1.4 million; Wood donated 1 million to the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY). Other pieces in the collection included three large movie model ships from TORA,TORA,TORA, a car shaped and painted like a can of V8 Juice, an Evel Knevel motorcycle, and a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie car.
Gaslight Village closed its doors in 1989 and became Lake George Action Park (a go-cart track) which has since also closed. All the rides were auctioned along with many of the cars. Today the land that once served as Gaslight Village is under discussion for conservation. They hope to purchase the land for $4.1 million and re-rout West Brook, which runs alongside, through a pollutant-filtering wetland to be built on the parcel and then into the lake.
Here are two Flickr photo sets: one recent shots, one older.
Suggested Reading
Legends: Pioneers of the Amusement Park Industry
Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements
Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York
28 Comments:
I loved Gaslight Village. Even back when i was a kid, it was always less insanely crowded than the Great Escape and it was a lot nicer to spend hours outside in cooler summer evening than a boiling afternoon. Gaslight Village just had a different, homier feel to it.
When I was about 13, I distinctly remember stepping out of a bumper boat and, when the boat kicked, straight into the water. Crazy stuff!
I grew up in Poughkeepsie and remember the trips my parents took us on to Story Town, The North Pole, Frontier Town, The Land of Make Believe etc, we hit them all.
I remember when I took my daughter to Gaslight Village back in 1980 and I got sick on the Green Monster, I couldn't get the ride attendants attention because he was operating two rides and I came close to losing dinner.
One thing I do remember but not sure of the location was a place called Indian Village where you could dig in the sand for artifacts. Does anyone remember that?
The original Gaslight Village was on RT 9 about1/2 mile south of Pottersville NY.The name of the property was originaly called Under The Maples and Echo Lake.The property was later converted to a campground.
I worked at Gaslight Village for not one but six summers -- 1978-1983. I did everything in the park from sweeping the grounds to acting in the Mellerdrama... all in all, one of the highlights of my career if not my entire life!
I certainly have fond memories of Gaslight Village.
I distinctly remember seeing Hitler's bulletproof car on display in the Calvacade of Car's and this much scared and impressed me as a young boy in the mid 1970's.
However, I cannot seem to find any evidence it was actually there. I did find an article that mentioned Hitler's car was acquired by the Canadian War Musem around 1970 so perhaps it was on loan/display for a summer?
Thanks for the article!
The Campgrounds is Smokerise and an article was in the Press or Post this summer. The pillars to the entry can still be found among the trees. The campgroung was owned by Joe & Cindy Gunning
I worked at Gaslight Village for 2 summers: 1969 and 1970. I primarily operated rides, although I did from time-to-time get involved in the village square "pie fight", cleaning and polishing the antique cars on display, and whatever else needed doing.
The Ride Manager was named Clark, although I don't remember his last name; "Skinner" comes to mind, though. The General Manager of the park was a schoolteacher, who enjoyed this as his "summer job". His name I do not recall. I met the owner, Charley Wood, a couple of times.
Most of the time I worked with 2 other young men, Dean and Mike. We almost always ran the Ferris Wheel and our tiny but surprisingly-rough roller coaster.
The maintenance barn was next to the Ferris Wheel. The fence behind it was a favorite spot for boys trying to sneak in. Due to the hillside, it was an easy, out-of-sight climb over the fence to get inside the fence behind the barn. However, they then HAD to boldly go through either the Ferris Wheel or the Antique Car Ride to get out to the park itself. They rarely succeeded before one of us stopped them and called for our "bouncer". The P.A. system would then announce for either "Mr. Tracy" (meaning a non-emergency) or "Dick Tracy" (meaning NOW) to please come to the barn.
On the evening of July 20, 1969, I spoke to the General Manager to ask if he could arrange for the live broadcast of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon to be broadcast over the P.A. system. Being a schoolteacher by trade, I suppose he understood the historic nature of the event. He surprised me by not just having the event broadcast through the park's speakers, but also by closing down all rides and shows for about 20 minutes, so everyone could hear it. A few customers complained, but he stood his ground. All over the park, families and small groups of people stood, mesmerized by the voice describing man's first steps on another celestial body.
Growing up in Fort Edward during the early '70's, I have fond memories of Gaslight Village, Storytown and Lake George in particular (Who could forget the "Theater" on Canada St!!!
Watching the fireworks from the roof patio of the Silver Dollar (long gone) was the highlight of the day.
I have returned many times in the past few years (I now live in Fl.) and I often wax nostalgic about how Lake George "USED" to be.... I truly miss the "old" Lake George..
I remember that they had John Waynes station wagon there and the tora tora tora models made my WWII veteran father mad. Great times.
I sooooo remember going to Gaslight Village and Storytown. I was looking at the pictures...awesome!!! I remember the rides!!! Nostalgic!!! And I remember the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car. I knew I wasn't going crazy. A few months ago we saw the movie on tv and I told the kids that I saw it once...
My parents took me to Gaslight village as a child. I have fond memories of the banjo playing and vaudville acts. My parents lived through the time that Gaslight village reflected, and it was my opportunity to experience the 20's. I loved the car collection, Garbo's Dusenburg, and the murder car from the movie "The Godfather". Althouigh it's gone, Gaslight village will remain in my heart forever.
I was just wondering if any one could help me verify a story I was told as a child about an accident that happened in Gaslight village?
I was told from my father that some where in the 1970s there was ride, sort of a octopus umbrella ride that fell over killing 2 people. I never knew if this story was true or just an old made up story to keep my brother and I from riding fair rides. If any one have any information that would be great.
I was at Gaslight Village the day of the ride accident! It was during the third week in august sometime in the 70's. Me and my family had just came out of the opera house when we herd sirens and commotion comming near the front of the park.We went to go see what had happened and it was the Paratrooper ride! The 2 person seats was connected by two metal rods,one in front,one in back.Each car hung down swinging riders in a sort of a Roundup way.The front metal rod had broken apart thus leaving only one rod in the back holding the car connected to the ride!By having only one support now connected..The front of the car dropped down a couple of feet in wich riders were exposed to the raised loading ramp with their leggs!!I still remember the shock on peoples faces that were still on the other cars that day!! Weird thing was that me and my brother had been on the ride and same car about a hour eariler!!We were lucky!!
Thank you MARKOSHOP, I've been looking for months for a news paper clipping so I was starting to think it was just a story my father made up for us kids when we were younger. It is kind of scary of accidents like that happen almost every where but don't seem to be widely spreed
I worked at Gaslight Village for 2 summers in the early 80's. I was a games girl. It was a great job!
I do not think that was Hitler's bullet proof car but rather the pope's car (popemobile) or perhaps teh replica of the Kennedy assination car...both were there as I recall...as was the car from Mannix.
This was such a great park, I bet if they could put it back exactly as it would draw a great nostalic audience.
My memories of Gaslight Village, are so much better than our children have of today! My parents took my sister, and me there a number of times in the late 60's! It's a crying shame to see what stays, and what goes in our world today!
I spent every summer of my childhood in Lake George and visited Gaslight Village many, many times. Last night I dreamt I was there, walking through its deserted, boarded up streets. Life goes by very quickly.
Jackson,
I'm afraid the boarded up deserted streets have all been torn down.
Thanks for reading,
John Warren
Does anyone know what became of the carousel? If my information is correct, it came from a park in eastern Ohio named Idora Park. i grew up there- literally. My neighbors owned the park and had kids my age, so we were always there, whether working or riding rides. i was so happy when i moved to upstate New York and found out the carousel was there! My kids were able to experience the same carousel that i grew up riding!
My parents and grandparents took my brothers and I to Gaslight Village a couple times in the 70's. I don't really remember the park, but I do remember a very scary thing: watching at night as the ferris wheel became very wobbly and seemed to be going out of control...I don't think anyone was hurt, but as long ago and young as I was, that memory is still pretty vivid.
I worked at GasLight Village the Summer of 1969. I was in the acting group that did 3-4 shows a day with an Ice show in between our shows... Spending that summer up there was a turning point in my life.... In Many ways...
Gaslight Village was such a special and unique place. The amusement parks that are open now are all so bland and generic...Anyone remember that crooked "Mystery House" thay had? I remember me & my sister running through there over & over until we were out of breath!
Gaslight Village was part of my childhood, I remember many summers heading through Vermont and taking the ferry across Lake Champlain...Stopping at Frontier Town and the Ausible Chasm....Then yahoooo it was off to the best amusement park in the world or at least that's what I remember....My favorite was driving the old model T cars, I really thought I was driving great...I also remember the wheels on the bumpers and the rubber guard rails that protected the cars as well as the visitors to the park....oh what childhood memories....Parks now a days are so mundane..I hope that the park will be used in a way that families can gather and maybe remenice of days gone by.....all I can say is Thanks for such great memories
Pearl from Boston, MA
I grew up in Glens Falls. Though I never went to Gaslight Village I was a frequent patron of the baseball batting cages across the road during the 1970's. Over time holes developed in the net covering the cages. I don't know how many balls I hit into Gaslight Village through those holes. Rt 9 is a high point between the two places so you could not see where the balls landed, but you had a pretty good idea where they were headed. I sure hope no one was hurt. Last I knew the area was being used to store boats.
Gaslight Village was mezmerizing as a kid in the 70's...Our family went there numerous times and I was in such awe with the rides and the shows, it really was a world of it's own. To think now a days my kids 15,19 &21 years old could never experience a place like Gaslight Village is very sad. Those days were filled with such freedom and fun! I can remember when I was older 16 or so, my buddy (Billy H) and I 'broke' into Gaslight Village. Comming down the hill (as described in previous post) near the Fort William Henry, we never made it though, a very tall man with a mustache and a badge was waiting for us near the Cavilcade of Cars. We had to go to the ticket window and get verified by the 'blue light' scan and no we didn't have a invisible ink stamp. So we had to pay ($20 admission) and we then got kicked out!!!! that was a cool memory.....
Do you know if its private property. A.K.A, am I allowed to film there?
Robert,
I believe it has all now been torn down.
John Warren
Almanack Editor
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