Excitement by Design: Palisades Amusement Park

“In the beginning, Palisades Amusement Park was often confused with the other Palisade Park--the Palisade Interstate Park,” Historical Interpreter Eric Nelsen of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission said as he introduced Palisades Amusement Park historian, Vince Garguilo, Friday evening to a standing-room-only crowd at the Fort Lee Historic Center.

To illustrate this point of confusion, Nelsen read two letters. One letter--dated July 8, 1915--from Assistant Secretary of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, E.W. King, to Mr. Loftus of Scranton, PA, reads: 

“Dear Sir:

I have your letter of July 7th. This Commission does not operate a park in which exhibitions such as you mention would be appropriate. Possibly you have this Commission confused with the Palisades Amusement Company.”

Another letter from King to Mr. William McCarthy dated May 24, 1922 reads:  

My dear Mr. McCarthy,  

I have yours of May 22nd. The Palisades Park Commission owns no aeroplanes, nor does it employ them to advertise the Park. Very possibly the plane in question came to the Polo Grounds from the so-called Palisades Amusement Park, a private enterprise, on top of the Palisades at Edgewater, New Jersey, operated by a firm by the name of Schenk Bros. More than once have the doings of this Park been mistaken for the acts of the Commission, to our regret.

(Letters reprinted courtesy of Palisade Interstate Park Commission.)

And so Garguilo took the audience on an illustrated journey, “Our Last Summer in the Sun: Palisades Amusement Park,” and what a journey it was having all the elements necessary for a good HBO miniseries. 

The year was 1898 and the trolley company, the Bergen County Traction Company, trying to find  a way to increase weekend ridership (read: revenue) when the work week went from six to five days, purchased 38 acres of undeveloped land atop the cliffs in Cliffside Park and Fort Lee and developed it into picnic areas, flower gardens and a scenic walkway as a way to draw crowds on their leisure time. This park was called “The Park on the Palisades.” 

In 1907 the trolley company sold the park to August Neumann, the first mayor of Cliffside Park. Neumann hired Alvin H. Dexter to add rides, lights, concession stands and live entertainment. A dance floor was added, as well as an open-air theater at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Manhattan skyline that was just beginning to take shape. 

In 1910 the park was again sold to the Schenck brothers, Joseph and Nicholas, who added many new attractions and rides, including roller coasters. 

By this time the park’s only competition was Coney Island; the one thing that Coney Island had that the park didn’t was an ocean. So, the Schecnk brothers embarked on building the biggest outdoor salt water pool. 

The pool was as wide as a city block and three times as long and filled with one and a half million gallons of salt water siphoned from the Hudson River at high tide and pumped up the cliffs. A wave machine was installed, sand imported from the Jersey Shore to complete the beach illusion, and the pool opened in June 1913.

Every night at 11 p.m. the pool was drained of its 1.5 million gallons of salt water, and enough limes to fill six barrels were used to clean the floor and sides before siphoning up another 1.5 gallens of salt water from the Hudson.  

In 1935, when the Schenk brothers turned their attention towards the Hollywood movie industry, they leased, then sold the park for $450,000 to another pair of brothers--Jack and Irving Rosenthal. The Rosenthals owned a number of concessions at Coney Island and were responsible for building the Coney Island Cyclone. Under the Rosenthals’ stewardship the park became known as "The World's Greatest Amusement Resort."

Just as the park was beginning to hit its stride, it was nearly destroyed by fire on Sunday, August 13th, 1944, described by eyewitnesses as a “scorching hot day.” Recounting that day, Garguilo said the fire most likely started in “The Virginia Reel,” a  popular ride that consisted of whirling tubs that spun on curved tracks, went down steep inclines, and through dark tunnels. 

The Virginia Reel had storage areas beneath it where the ride operators stored greasy rags that they cleaned the tracks with. It’s believed that a spark from the ride ignited the greasy rags. Because most of the park was built of wood, the fire rapidly spread in all directions chasing people from the pool so fast they didn’t even have time to collect their clothes. The fire reached the parking lot, consuming the cars and causing gas tanks to explode. Fourteen fire departments from surrounding municipalities were called to assist in putting out the fire that resulted in a total loss of $1 million dollars. 

Despite the fact that the country was at war and building supplies rationed, the Rosenthals got permits to quickly rebuild because the park was considered “essential recreation” for soldiers on leave.  

The 50s and 60s saw the park undergo another transformation as it became know as the "music capital of the world" with the likes of radio personalities Clay Cole and Cousin Brucie attracting the top rock and roll groups of the day to the park. Advertising also contributed to its growing success as ads were placed in comic books, on the inside of matchbook covers, on radio stations with the popular song “Palisades Park,” and TV commercials with the jingle “Come on Over,” written by Irving Rosenthal’s wife.  

All this advertising drew such large crowds to the park that the parking lots could not accommodate all the cars. All the cars that descended upon the park began to congest the towns of Fort Lee and Cliffside Park, causing gridlock every weekend. 

Irving refused to sell the park despite the fact that his brother had died and he had no heirs. However, in 1971 he succumbed to pressure and sold the land to Texas Developer, the Winston Centex Corporation, for $12.5 million. The park officially closed on September 12, 1971. 

And the great salt water pool? Garguilo said that the towns of Fort Lee and Cliffside Park considered it for a town pool to be shared by both municipalities. However, when they went to inspect it, vandals had stripped the pool of all the electronics, pipes and copper. The officials felt that given the amount of damage, it wasn’t worth rehabilitating, so the once largest outdoor salt-water pool was filled in and covered over. 

In 1998, to mark the centennial of the opening of the original "Park on the Palisades," a monument was dedicated to Palisades Amusement Park on the Carlyle Property on Winston Drive in Cliffside Park.

It was clear from the audience that even though the park no longer exists, it lives on in their hearts and fond memories.

Vince Garguilo is the founder and executive director of the Palisades Amusement Park Historical Society and author of “Palisades Amusement Park: A Century of Fond Memories,” and the documentary of the same name.