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Suburban Park 1895-1905 Unionville, CT

Suburban Park was opened in 1895 on 20.5 acres by the Suburban Railway trolley company that brought visitors from Farmington, West Hartford, and Hartford.

One of the main attractions was a very large electrified fountain. This was the only structure with electricity at the park.

Other attractions included:

-picnic grounds

-restaurants

-punting pond

-ballroom for dancing

-very likely, a carousel

The existence of a carousel at the park has been disputed. Any information has been lost and no known photos exist. Some say that there could not have been a carousel due to the lack of electricity, but it was probably steam-powered, which would have been common for that time period. In addition, a photo of the fountain shows what appears to be a ticket booth in the background, which would have been appropriate for a carousel.

After the closure of the park, the ballroom was used as a private residence for years until it burned to the ground in the 1960's (curiously, it was never wired for electricity).

The town purchased the property in 1999, and today it is a heavily-wooded public park with walking trails and a playground at the north end. A replica of the original entry arch stands at the entrance, and there are some remnants left of the old trolley park including:

-the base of the fountain

-the foundations of the restaurants and ballroom

-some old electric wires (presumably for the fountain)

-a man-made cave used for storing perishable food for the restaurant (for years this was a hangout for local teens and was called the cave of the dancing bear it was rumored that a performing bear also lived in the cave while the park was open)

CREDITS: Information provided by the Unionville Museum and a tour I took of the park in November 2010 -- Kristen Berggren