Lighthouse Point did have and does till this day have some amusements so I include it...
Today the lighthouse is the centerpiece of
Lighthouse Park, established by the city of New Haven in 1949. The park
has beautiful beaches and the lighthouse perches dramatically on its
rocky point.
The War Department leased the one-acre lighthouse site to Albert
Widmann at the turn of the century for $100 per year. Widmann added a
boat landing and other improvements for a cost of $3,000, ferrying
people from Savin Rock to the site. When his lease expired on
January 1, 1922, the property was transferred to the state of
Connecticut and the buildings to the City of New Haven. The bill
stipulated that the site was to be used solely as a public park.
Numerous concessions had been in operation at the site by the East Shore Amusement Company long before the City of New Haven bought the site in 1924. The City was looking for another kind of environment for the park. When the Parks Department took over, President Woolsey, President of the New Haven Park commission
verbalized the goal: " To furnish clean and wholesome bathing, not to
set up a shore resort with all sorts of amusements in competition with
Savin Rock."
Swimming (the only public beach for swimming in New Haven) and athletics of all kinds made Lighthouse Point THE place to be on weekends. As many as 2,000 people a day would descend on the park, many taking the Lighthouse open trolley from Church and Chapel Streets. The park even attracted a few celebrities. "Among the people issued permits for the use of the ball fields in the late 1920's was George Weiss, later destined to become manager of the New York Yankees. He would invite Big League teams to the park for a Sunday afternoon of ball playing.
Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson were among those that appeared. One Sunday early in his career, Babe Ruth swatted a ball so forcefully that it went out of the park boundaries and was finally interrupted in flight by some electric wires." On September 21, 1938 a hurricane destroyed much of the shore, almost putting an end to the site as a public park.
Credits: Some of the above is courtesy of the City of New Haven.
During this period, (1900-10) and quite in keeping with the spirit of
the times, the municipal authorities sought to bring to the general
public better facilities for enjoying the city's location on Long
Island Sound. Steps were taken to encourage the development of an
amusement park at Savin Rock and another at Lighthouse Point. The
'Register' announced in April, 1901, that the electric trolley company
was purchasing several large open cars to carry passengers to 'the
Rock' that summer. From 1904 to 1914, proposals were made in the board
of alderman that the city take over Lighthouse Point from the private
company which was operating it, in order to establish a public park
there.
Credit: Three Centuries of New Haven: Rollin Osterweis: 1953
