lunact.html

This is just some 'excerpts' from an article I saw once and now source is elusive. Luna Park is an 'unknown' it seems in present days. There was a Charter Oak Park in same area but that was mainly just for horse races, early auto races,etc. --but also 'amusements'...

On New Year's Day 1947, World War II vet George Lebetkin brought his wife Carrie to their brand-new home on St. Augustine Street in West Hartford.

But for Lebetkin, his West Hartford memories started much earlier. In a handwritten letter and in an interview at his home Lebetkin, now 86, remembered the town he first visited while still a boy. "My father drove to Charter Oak Park when I was a youngster," he wrote.

"The trolley route ended at New Park at the Park. It was a big show place with plenty to eat. A race horse with cart was the main thing at the park."

The Charter Oak Park, which expanded to include an amusement park - Luna Park - that went out of business in 1930; the land is now the Chandler-Evans Division of Pratt and Whitney. The loss of Charter Oak Park isn't the only change Lebetkin's seen in West Hartford.

In his letter he toured the West Hartford he knew, starting at Park Road. He said Hall's Market is still in the same place, but the A and P grocery store just before Petersen's Dairy is now gone. When A.C. Petersen's opened, he said the biggest ice cream sold for five or ten cents, a banana split only 15 cents.

Today, West Hartford Center is known for restaurants like Azul, Cosi, and Grants with not a grocery store in sight. Not so in Lebetkin's day. He remembers M.J. Burnham's on South Main, calling it a "great store for delivery service" with close to 30 trucks they kept in the backyard. Lebetkin delivered R.C. Cola to Burnham's until he left to start his own grocery store Capitol Park Market. It lasted two years until the Army claimed him for World War II. ---------

Lebetkin also remembers the driving challenges presented by the since-disappeared rotary at Farmington Avenue and Main Street. After "surviving" the rotary, residents shopped at stores long gone: the Colonial Delicatessen, Krohner's Bakery, and Hilliard's candy store.

Carrie Lebetkin remembers window shopping trips with her husband in West Hartford Center. One trip stands out. She already had an antique watch but saw a beautiful one in a store window. When her husband reminded her she already had an antique watch, Carrie Lebetkin said that she had two daughters-in-law and wanted to leave both of them an antique watch. Her husband agreed with her logic and bought the second watch.

Going toward Hartford on Farmington Avenue brings two houses of worship to Lebetkin's mind, one of them his own Beth David Synagogue, the town's first Orthodox synagogue. About 1947, Beth David opened in a home and called itself West Hartford Synagogue. In 1954, they dedicated the Beth David vestry. Lebetkin also recalled the building of St. Thomas the Apostle on the corner of Dover Road and Farmington Avenue, which started as a basement church.

Continuing toward Hartford on Farmington Avenue was the Foot Guard of Connecticut, located in the armory. Across the street was the Howard Johnson Restaurant, which, Lebetkin wrote, "during the fifties had Wednesday all-you-can-eat on fish."

This year, West Hartford Center has been crowded with cow-gazers for its CowParade, but in 1952, when the Lebetkins moved to one of the first homes on Mohawk Drive, you could still see and hear the real thing. The area that now includes King Philip Middle School was part of the Miller farm. Cows were kept near Albany Avenue on King Philip Drive, and Carrie Lebetkin often took her two sons, Glen and Peter, for walks to see the cows.

Down at Bishop's Corner was a vegetable stand that closed in winter. Lebetkin also remembers the golf range on the corner of King Philip and Albany Avenue. Another Bishop's Corner landmark was Dutchland Farms, where Lebetkin took his wife for dinner and teens their dates for ice cream. It wasn't a teen hangout though. Lebetkin said, "We didn't have any hangouts like you have today."

Looking back, the couple has fond memories of their 56 years in West Hartford.

"It's a very nice place to live and I enjoy being here," said Lebetkin.

Did you live in West Hartford during the Hurricane of 1938 ? Maybe you've been living in this area so long you even remember Charter Oak Park, M.J. Burnham's Grocery Store, and Maple Hill Restaurant. You might be a more recent arrival, and your memories go back to the opening of the Park Road Playhouse

------ recreational areas like the Charter Oak Park Race Track and Fair Grounds at the intersection of Oakwood and Flatbush Avenues, a nationally famous horse racing track in 1874.

According to Billboards Annual Survey of Amusement Parks,the Hartford area enjoyed five amusement parks over the years.

Laurel Springs Park, Charter Oak Park, Capitol Park, Weider's and Luna Park.

In the 1870's, Burdette A. Loomis developed a one mile horse racing track for trotters and pacers in West Hartford. Several years later when the state legislature passed an anti-betting law, the track fell on hard times and passed through several hands. The Connecticut Fair Association later purchased the land for $125,000.00 and for many years conducted an annual fair in connection with the Grand Circuit Races.

To encourage additional trolley business,the local traction company encouraged development of a suitable park at the fairgrounds, and Luna Park opened among much fanfare in 1906.

Luna Park was tied in with the White City Park in West Haven and managed by the same two men, Darcy and Speck from New York City.

The original name for the park was White City, but it was changed just before the opening, possibly because it lacked the shoot-the-chutes and roller coaster associated with the other White City parks around the country. The park itself was built in the traditional White City style.

Luna Park however,was a very popular title,patterned after Coney Island's famous Luna Park and 35 other Luna Parks scattered throughout the world.

At the opening,advertised attractions consisted of a Double Whirl, Old Mill, circle swing, maze, Katzenjammer Kastle (Fun House), Illusion Show, pony circus, Japanese Tea Garden, Car Tours of the World, shooting gallery, roller skating rink, Laughing Gallery and a restaurant. Free thrill acts appeared all summer and an advertisement in the show business trade paper Billboard, offered $4,000.00 for a two-week stand for 'A novel and highly sensational act that is a regular heart-beat stopper'.

Under new management for 1907, a scenic railway, miniature train ride and Ferris Wheel were installed, but by the end of the season,the property was in the hands of receivers.

James H.Clarkin, manager of the Hartford professional baseball team, purchased the park just before its scheduled opening in 1908.

Apparently Clarkin could not make a go of it either, as another company took over its management for 1909, changing the midway to a Japanese decor. The scenic railway was destroyed by fire during the spring, and the beautiful carousel ceased 1909.

Luna Park did not last long. The fair operated for many years with indifferent success and finally failed completely. After lying idle for many years,Grand Circuit racing was again revived by a local association and in 1937 the land was still available.

Credits: A Century of Fun, New England Amusement Parks, Bob Goldsack, Nashua, New Hampshire.