ATTLEBORO/EAST ATTLEBOROUGH (BRISTOL COUNTY). "Casino, Talaquega Park, ATTLEBORO, Mass."


COLONEL RANDALL A. HARRINGTON.. As a promoter of theatrical and amusement enterprises, the late Colonel Randall A. Harrington, owner of the famous shore resort, Rocky Point, was known from coast to coast. In Rhode Island his reputation was Statewide, both in the above field and in political circles.....Colonel Harrington was educated in the schools of Warwick, and was a student in the private schools of Simeon Green and Miss Kent for several years. From the very outset of his business career he was interested in amusement projects, and in the theatrical world, and for a decade prior to his entrance into the amusement field in Rhode Island was active as a theatrical manager in New York. As a consequence his acquaintance was large and included most of the stage stars of note in New York in the last quarter of a century. His connection with Rocky Point dates from the year 1888, when he secured a lease of the premises, and initiated the first schemes of development which subsequently made it one of the most famous resorts on the Atlantic coast. The site is one of rare beauty, and was originally the property of the Stafford family. Two daughters of the family finally inherited it, and disposed of their interests for little more than $2,500 to Captain Winslow, who after improving it sold it to Byron Sprague for $60,000. Mr. Sprague built the observatory with a rise of two hundred and fifty feet above sea level, and made improvements costing about $300,000. In 1869 the property was bought by the American Steamship Company, which during the nine years of its ownership expended $200,000. In 1878 the Continental Steamboat Company purchased the place and continued to develop it. Such was the history of Rocky Point up to 1888, when it came into the hands of Colonel Harrington, under whose management it was brought to the highest point of efficiency. Colonel Harrington devoted all his ability and energy to the task of making Rocky Point the finest resort of its kind in New England, and to this end he introduced amusements of a sort never before seen in this section of the country. The natural beauty of the site as well as the amusements drew large crowds from the surrounding country; excursions came from all points by boat and rail. In 1906 he purchased the land, buildings, and amusements and became sole owner, continuing to manage the property until his death.


Another amusement venture of which he was owner was Talaquega Park at Attleboro, Mass., which, although it was a paying investment, never attained the great success of his other ventures. He eventually disposed of it to Bristol county, the building being transferred into the present tuberculosis hospital. For several years he controlled Crescent Park, another well known Rhode Island resort, and the Taunton Theatre, of Taunton, Mass., was under his management. Colonel Harrington for many years prior to his death spent his winters in Jacksonville, Fla., where he was heavily interested in real estate development. He was prominent in many departments of the city's life, and in 1908 promoted the Florida Exposition there and managed the amusement features of the event.


If the walls of the Grace Baptist Christian Academy could talk, they might tell of a time in the early 1900s, when it was a successful amusement center known as the Talaquega Park Casino.

It was not a traditional gambling casino; in fact, no gambling took place there.

Opened in 1902, it was more of an entertainment center, with a dance hall, vaudeville theater, restaurant, bowling lanes and beautiful gardens and walkways with an outdoor bandstand.

Sometimes, it would host a "country circus," where you could buy hot dogs and lemonade for a nickel each.

Talaquega Park was built and operated by the Bristol County Electric Street Railway to attract riders to its trolley lines, according to "The History of Attleboro 1894-1978" by Paul Tedesco. It was one of several 'trolley parks' operating at that time.

Talaquega Park Casino at Briggs corner in Attleboro, as seen in this early 1900's photo is now the site of Grace Baptist Christian Academy. Col. Randall A. Harrington, who also owned Rocky Point in Rhode Island, developed the park. Trolley line parks went out of business with the increased use of the automobile.

In 1917, Talaquega Park was sold. Two years later, it reopened as the Bristol County Tuberculosis Hospital. It became the Bristol Nursing Home in 1963, and the nursing home was at that location until 2001.

The building was unoccupied when Grace Baptist Church bought it in 2003 to open up Grace Baptist Church Academy.



CREDITS:Excerpts: Library-Attleboro, Massachusetts