Riverview Park (Chicago)

Riverview Park was an amusement park in Chicago, Illinois which operated from 1904 to 1967. It was located on 74 acres (0.3 km²) in an area bound on the south by Belmont Avenue, on the east by Western Avenue, on the north by Lane Tech High School, and on the west by the North Branch of the Chicago River. It was in the North Center community area and neighborhood on Chicago's north side.

Riverview was most known for The Bobs roller coaster. Other popular coasters were The Comet, The Silver Flash, The Fireball and the Jetstream. Aladdin's Castle was a classic fun house with a collapsing stairway, mazes and turning barrel. Shoot the Chutes, Hades, the Rotor, Tilt-a-Whirl, Wild Mouse, the Tunnel of Love, and The Flying Cars were just a few of the many classic rides. "The Pair-O-Chutes at Riverview Park'll shake us up all day" is a line from the Beach Boys' song "Amusement Parks U.S.A." from their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).

The Riverview Park grounds were owned by George Schmidt. Immediately across the street, on the east side of Western Avenue, was George Schmidt Motors. There, George Schmidt senior sold new Sunbeams and Hillmans and other British cars from the Rootes Group (Humbers, Commers, etc.) and George Schmidt junior raced his sportcar named the Li'l Stinker, a white Sunbeam Alpine convertible with a cute skunk in a yellow circle painted on the doors and bonnet.

"Big Bill" Haywood, the Industrial Workers of the World leader, once spoke here to a crowd of almost 80,000 people.

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