Oaks Amusement Park
Entrance to Oaks Park.
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| Location | 7805 SE Oaks Park Way Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 45°28′23″N 122°39′38″W / 45.4730°N 122.66061°WCoordinates: 45°28′23″N 122°39′38″W / 45.4730°N 122.66061°W |
| Owner | Oaks Park Association |
| Opened | May 30, 1905 |
| Operating season | Spring weekends and daily during summer (rides) Tuesdays-Sundays (rink) |
| Website | http://www.oakspark.com/ |
Oaks Park is a small amusement park located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S., near the Sellwood Bridge. Known as the "Coney Island of the Northwest" after its opening in May 1905, it is one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the country.
The 44-acre (18 ha) park includes midway games, about two dozen rides that operate seasonally, a skating rink that is open all-year, and picnic grounds. It is also home to the Herschell–Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel, a historic wooden carousel constructed in 1912.
The park, conceived as an attraction timed to accompany the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, was built by the Oregon Water Power and Railway Company and opened on May 30, 1905, during a period when trolley parks were often constructed along streetcar lines. It attracted 300,000 visitors during its first season, and continued to attract about that many patrons throughout its first decade of existence.
In the early 1920s, the park was sold to John Cordray, one of its managers. After Cordray died in 1925, Edward Bollinger, Oaks Park's superintendent, bought all but the land from Cordray's widow; Bollinger acquired the land in 1943. Some of the park's earliest rides included Chute the Chutes, a chute ride that whisked the riders down a steep incline plunging into a small man-made lake; the Barrel of Fun, a funhouse which included screaming skeletons, mazes of mirrors, and dark dead-end hallways; and the Mystic River Ride, a boat ride that traveled through darkened tunnels. The park also featured a floating bathhouse anchored along the river at the south end of the park, as well as a dance pavilion, which attracted famous acts from around the world, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the John Philip Sousa Marching Band, and Patrick Conway and his World Famous Band.
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