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Beautiful Luna Park was Charleston's most popular amusement site from 1912 until May 1923 when it was destroyed by fire.

Located on the city's West Side and bounded by present-day Park and Glenwood avenues, Park Drive, Grant Street and the river, its main attraction was the elaborate roller coaster seen here in 1916.

Among other features were a dance pavilion and a roller skating rink where races were often held.

Streetcars provided access from all over the Valley and steamboat excursions to Luna Park were popular.

On one long-ago Fourth of July, more than 30,000 people paid 15 cents to take in the delights of the tree-shaded park.

Almost all prosperous towns like Charleston had their amusement parks, including Parkersburg's Terrapin Park and of course Cincinnati's Coney Island.

After the 1923 fire, the owners wanted to rebuild but couldn't raise the money.

The walkways were eventually paved over and the park became a residential area.

The outlines of the park can be seen by the odd arrangement of streets in the neighborhood.



CREDITS:Excerpts: The Way it Was, by Richard Andre. It's about the old Luna Park in Charleston.


In 1913 Luna Park, Charleston had a Roller Coaster named Royal Giant Dips that closed in 1923.


According to my mom, there used to be an amusement park in Charleston that sat where the CAMC Memorial Hospital is now, and another amusement park that sat on the West Side facing the Kanawha River.....two different parks at different times. My mom remembers the one that sat where the hospital is now, but she doesn't remember it being called Luna Park. I will have to look into it again now that I am curious about it. There are no signs or remenants of any parks on either site. It's amazing that some of these parks were around the same time Camden Park was. It's amazing that it survived and the others didn't.

CREDIT: Unknown except a Usenet posting