Freedomland U.S.A.
| Slogan | The World's Largest Outdoor Family Entertainment Center |
|---|---|
| Location | The Bronx, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°52′18.58″N 73°49′39.44″W / 40.8718278°N 73.8276222°WCoordinates: 40°52′18.58″N 73°49′39.44″W / 40.8718278°N 73.8276222°W |
| 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 Bronx borough 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, and the land was used to build Co-op City.
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.
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