Interest in the park first centers in the pavilion which has more than local fame for its size, facilities and architectural design. This beautiful building, which is 66 x 253 ft., faces Owasco Lake and stands approximately 500 ft. from its shores. A large and spacious veranda which seats 1500 people and extends the entire length of the pavilion also looks on the lake and has as its features rockers, reclining chairs, etc., and new and up-to-date sanitary drinking fountains.

The view from this veranda, together with the cool fresh air, is a revelation to the weary and a view of scenic beauty to the traveler. In case of storm or inclement weather conditions, accommodations can be made for 5000 people.

The large dancing hall which occupies one-half of the pavilion is 44 x 119 ft. and is known throughout the entire state for its well kept condition. The music which is an added feature consists of an orchestra of seven pieces and is under the leadership of a New "Vork City director. Dance music is of the very latest and up-to-date type and a charge of 5c per dance or eight for 25c is charged. No dancing being permitted on Sundays, the orchestra is used in furnishing afternoon and evening concerts from a carefully selected program made up of classical, popular and patriotic selections. On these days the orchestra is enlarged, with the result that hundreds of people journey to Lakeside to enjoy the Sunday concerts which have proven to be very successful both from a traffic standpoint as well as furnishing an attractive clean amusement to the patrons of the park.

In the other half of the pavilion, which is separated from the dance floor by a large splashing fountain and promenade, is located one of the finest restaurants in New York state. Regular fish dinners are served, as well as a la carte service at a very fair and reasonable price.

Aside from the pavilion is a well kept baseball diamond and bleachers. League games are played regularly each Saturday and on other days the grounds are set aside by special permit for picnic parties. Adjoining the ball grounds is located a No. 2 roller coaster and merry-go-round. The coaster exceeds in size anything of its character in central New York and affords many happy and exciting hours for both the old and young and many a thrilling ride may be had in perfect safety. The merry-go-round is one of the special features for the children and is new and up-to-date in every feature of its equipment.

The outlet to the lake, which divides the park from an island, provides excellent boating, canoeing, fishing, etc., at little or no cost. The island affords one of every pleasure required at a summer resort, including a large hotel and bathing beach. The bathing beach is second to none. Here is located a large bath house with 100 rooms and is in charge of an attendant whose duty is to maintain the excellent reputation so long held by its owners. This beach is wonderfully patronized both by the children and adults and ranks among the first of our amusements.

Timeline for Island (Deauville) and Enna Jettick (Emerson) Park abstracted by Laurel Auchampaugh from deed records, and files at the Cayuga County Historians Office.

April 1, 1850 Oliver Hubbard sold a stip of land on "Hubbards Island" to the State of NY.

April 1, 1852 The State Legislature appropriated $7000 for creating the channel.

1852 "Two Mile House" Tavern on the old channel built by Charles S. Peet.It was a 2-story structure with sweeping verandas, prompted by creation of the Auburn-Moravia plank Road.

1852 Peet sold the tavern to George W. Taladay.

1862 - 1898 Townsend operated the Tavern.

1868 The state created the island.

1897 Helen Stewart Crocker and Robert W. Forbes of New York City offered to give the island to the City of Auburn under certain conditions. Denied.

It was at this time they sold the land to the East, (now Emerson Park) to the Auburn City Railroad Company.

1893 Island leased to Thomas Quinn and Dennis McCarthy and serviced by the trolley along Lake Ave.

June 1895 Crocker and Forbes reserved a roadway from 38A to the Island. They in turn at this time sold the right of way and the island to John J. Smith of the Inter-Urban Railway Co.

July 21, 1899 The park opened with fan-fare, and colored lights on the exhibits.

1900 The dance hall was created out of the old merry-go-round

1904 The Island Theater was built. James Hennessy was the manager He was a well known businessman with a talent for getting top acts at the Burtis Opera House in Auburn which he also managed.

1905 Seawalls constructed by Carmody on the island the ice cream cone, a new introduction from the Saint Louis Fair introduced.

1908 The Trolley extended to White Bridge Road to Owasco Road.

The figure 8 roller coaster constructed.

1920 Merry-go-round building converted again to roller skating rink.

1926 Merry-go-round building-rink used for Monday night boxing accommodated 800 fans.

1929 -1935 Depression many people flocked to the park on weekends.

May 1935 Primo Carnera trained for fight with Joe Louis.

July 1935 Bills, the owner of the park at that time sold the Island to Edward F. Brayer who named it Deauville Island Park.

The Pavilion

June 17, 1941 The Emerson Foundation deeded the Park then called "Enna Jettick" to Cayuga County for $1, with the stipulation it would be free for the benefit of the people of Cayuga County.

May 1944 William Axton, Owasco Supervisor, made arrangements with Fred L. Emerson , owner of the Park to keep the grass cut, and in condition with the help of the County Highway Department.

In 1889, the Auburn and Syracuse Electric Rail Co. developed a recreational facility on what is now known as Deauville Island. Shortly thereafter, the company built a terminal nearby in an effort to increase rail ridership.

The property was sold in 1899 and the new owner built the Deauville Island Hotel from which the islands name is derived. During the next 30 years, the property was developed as an amusement park and facilities were expanded.

In 1930, the Enna-Jettick Shoe Company purchased the property and renamed it Enna-Jettick Park. The shoe company used the park as a vehicle to promote its brand of shoes.

In 1944 Fred Emerson, owner of the shoe company donated the park and some adjoining land to Cayuga County. The park was renamed in honor of Mr. Emerson.

Traditional amusement parks once operated successfully throughout the Finger Lakes region, entertaining and exciting patrons by the thousands during the summer months. The northern shore line of Owasco Lake, now Emerson Park, featured a series of amusement parks from the late nineteenth century until 1967. Although most traces of these establishments have vanished, the names Lakeside park, Enna Jettick Park, and Deauville Island Park still conjure fond memories for local residents.

In 1868, a channel dredged in the Owasco Outlet resulted in an island, which became a popular picnic retreat and a respite spot for boaters. Charles Haines, an entrepreneur with amusement industry connections, purchased the island in 1889 amid grand promises of resort development. He opened an amusement park complete with dancing pavilion, bandstand, theatre, carousel, and boating house. After a single season of rousing summer business, however, Haines skipped town with the profits, leaving his creditors scrambling to recover their losses. It was not an auspicious start.

Michael Carmody, an Auburn native and former chief clerk of a local hotel, purchased the island property in 1899. By May the following year, Carmody opened Island Park, and the investment proved well founded. Visitors came by trolley, carriage, and foot to enjoy the Park. In 1900, Carmody added a carousel and dance hall, in 1904 a theatre, and in 1905 he built a seawall along a section of the shore.

Island Park saw two new attractions in 1906: a Figure 8 roller coaster and a miniature railroad run by Mabey & West's Miniature Railroad Company. West was Billy West, another Auburn native, who enjoyed a successful career as the owner of a traveling vaudeville minstrel act. West's Minstrel Show was nationally know, and enthusiastically received when it played Auburn at the Burtis Opera House. Why West entered into the amusements venture is not known, but the miniature steam train and canopied passenger cars, which ran on a half-mile track around the Park, became one of the most recognizable features of Island Park.

By 1891, Auburn City Railway Company built an electric rail line connecting Auburn to Owasco Lake, and the company purchased the land opposite Island Park. To entice patrons to ride to the end of the line, the rail company created Lakeside Park, a modest public space with a pavilion and gardened walkways. In the 1910's, Michael Carmody's success with Island Park made officials from the Auburn & Syracuse Electric Railroad, which had absorbed the Auburn City Railway, sit up and take notice. The trolley company decided that they, too, should get into the amusement park business.

Lakeside Park came into its own in the 1920's. Auburn & Syracuse Railway contracted Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) to created rides, games, and concession buildings. In 1921, PTC built the Wasco Dips, a roller coaster that ran along the end of the Owasco Outlet and The Mill Chute which was a tunnel water ride that wove between the massive wooden supports of the coaster. The Pavilion featured dancing each evening, and a matinee each Saturday. The music, dances, and performers became prime attractions and solidified the Park's regional reputation.

But while the park thrived, the trolley company's days were numbered. The coming of the automobile age spelled the end of the electric train system operating throughout the region. The trolley ran for the last time from Auburn to Lakeside Park in 1930. In March that same year, the Auburn & Syracuse Electric Railway faced the auction block. Fred L. Emerson of Enna Jettick Shoe Company purchased the park for $250,000.

Enna Jettick Park opened in the summer of 1930 amid grand fanfare and many new features. The Philadelphia Toboggan Company built an impressive new carousel building with lattice supports and an umbrella-shaped roof. (Many decades later this is the building that will become the home of The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse.) It housed a massive merry-go-round with prancing horses created by famed carousel carver John Zalar. The building featured an attached covered picnic pavilion which seated 750. PTC refurbished the Wasco Dips coaster and renamed it The Wildcat. Throughout the Great Depression, Enna Jettick thrived. Big bands and recording stars regularly performed at the Pavilion. Enna Jettick featured free attendance and dances for a dime. Even visitors with just a few cents in their pockets enjoyed watching the activity on the rides, the antics on monkey island, and listening to the music coming from the Pavilion. Churches, schools, industries, and civic groups from throughout the region used Enna Jettick Park for their picnics and retreat days much as groups do today. Regional automobile traffic, which had prompted the Park's expansion, eventually resulted in its downfall. Enna Jettick did not open in 1942 due to gas rationing during World War II. Although local residents hoped that the park would reopen with the easing of gas restriction, it did not happen. In 1944, Fred L. Emerson gave Enna Jettick to Cayuga County for use as a public park. The county renamed the land Emerson Park, and razed the Roller Coaster, the Mill Chute, and games buildings, which had quickly deteriorated over the two years they had stood vacant. Hershey Park in Pennsylvania purchased the PTC carousel and moved it to their facility. It has been beautiful restored and is operating to this day.

In the post war years, Island Park, renamed Deauville Island Park, remained an amusement park. Throughout the 1940's and 1950's, residents patronized Deauville during the summer months. But by the end of the 1960's, Deauville Island, too, was gone, razed to facilitate the expansion of Emerson Park. The last carousel at Emerson Park, a fanciful machine with zebras, camels, and cranes and horses, operated in the old PTC carousel building on the main land until 1972, when it was sold to a museum on Long Island.