Riverview - Part 2 (The History)

A Short History of Riverview Park

The area around Western and Belmont Avenues in Chicago was settled largely by German immigrants in the late 1800s. The Der Nord Chicago Schuetzenverien, a spin-off group of the Kriegs Verein of Chicago, a group of Prussian War veterans, purchased the acreage bounded by the Chicago River and the above avenues in order to use it as a shooting range. They later changed their name to the North Chicago Sharpshooters Association. The 22 acre park was dubbed Schuetzen Park by the Germans, and Sharpshooters Park by the locals, who began asking the private club if their grounds could be rented for picnics. Around the turn of the century, the Sharpshooters Association dissolved and two members purchased the land. They were Wilhelm (William) A. Schmidt, a baker, and his partner George Goldman. Schmidt and Goldman operated the park as a picnic ground until 1903, when Schmidt's son George returned from school in Europe. He suggested to his father that they add rides to the ground, in the style of some of the European parks he'd visited.

	A local lawyer, William Johnson, and a Pittsburgh banker named Joseph McQuade(no photo available) supplied additional financing in 1904 to turn Sharpshooters Park into a full-blown amusement park. The new park was dubbed Riverview Sharpshooters Park.
	During the first couple of years, the major rides were the White Flyer (a figure-8 shaped roller coaster), and the Aero-Stat, better known to Chicagoans as the Strat-O-Stat.

History - 1907

While the park was successful right from the start, the money to really expand the park into Chicago's premier amusement park came when Nicholas Valerius and Paul Cooper came into the company in 1907. That year alone, $550,000 worth of attractions were added to Riverview including the classic front gate, the Hellgate ride, and two roller coasters. The first coaster was named the Top, because it was spiral-shaped like a top and the coaster trains revolved around it. As the trains went around it, the whole coaster structure wobbled like a top. The second coaster was the Velvet Coaster, named for its gentle dips. In a new section of the park called Fairyland, Riverview built one of its signature rides, the Shoot-the-Chutes. Note in the picture at right, the Aero-Stat has not yet been moved from the front of the park to its later position next to the Chutes. This ride was immensely popular, and on busy days you could expect to wait a long time for a ride, with no re-rides permitted.

History - 1907/1908

At the rear of the park, paralleling the river, Riverview began construction of the Marine Causeway, also known as the River Walk. During 1907, very little was on the Causeway, but during the 1908 season, Riverview added the sensational attraction, Battle of the Monitor & Merrimac, which was a re-creation of the famous Civil War naval battle. Also added in 1908 was a magnificent 5-row carousel, one of the largest ever built!

The Pikes Peak Scenic Railway was also added in 1907. See picture below. In 1908, Riverview added two more roller coasters, the Aerial Coaster, which wrapped around the Monitor and Merrimac building, and the Royal Gorge Scenic Railway. The Aerial Coaster, also known as the Pottsdam Railway, can be seen above on either side of the Monitor and Merrimac. The Royal Gorge Scenic Railway is below at right.

History 1909-1919

In 1909, the park built its first Racing Coaster. The Derby, engineered by famous designer John Miller, was incredibly popular right up until its destruction by fire in 1932.

Throughout the rest of the teens, Riverview built at a frenzied pace. By the close of the decade, they'd built FOUR more roller coasters, the original Blue Streak, the Gee Whiz (aka Greyhound), the Jack Rabbit, and the Cannon Ball. The Blue Streak came first in 1911, followed by the Gee Whiz in 1912, the Jack Rabbit racing coaster in 1914, and the Cannon Ball in 1919. At right top is the original Blue Streak coaster. Below right is the entrance to the Jack Rabbit.

History - Roaring Twenties

Riverview continued to roar throughout the Roaring Twenties. No less than FIVE additional coasters were built in this decade. The first was the Big Dipper (aka Zephyr & Comet) in 1920, the Pippin (aka Silver Flash or Flash) in 1921, the Skyrocket (aka Blue Streak & Fireball) in 1923, the Bobs in 1924, and finally the Kiddie Bobs in 1926!

With the building of the Kiddie Bobs in 1926, Riverview would build its last coaster of the twenties. After the Great Depression began in 1929, Riverview would be unable to afford a new coaster. It would have to purchase one used in the thirties.

History - 30's & 40's

The effects of the Great Depression dramatically reduced the amount of money available for new attractions. To make matters worse, in April of 1932, workmen retarring a roof started a massive blaze that destroyed the Bug House funhouse, and heavily damaged the Derby coaster. The Derby was subsequently torn down, and the Bug House was replaced with a new funhouse, Aladdin's Castle. Riverview had wanted to purchase a Flying Turns ride new from the manufacturer since its introduction, but was unable to come up with the funds to buy one. They were forced to purchase one used from the 1933-34 Chicago Worlds Fair after it closed. Riverview closed its large Kiddie Land, demolished the Kiddie Bobs coaster along with it, and moved the Flying Turns to the site. The photo shown here is an aerial view of the Flying Turns on the World's Fair midway.

In 1936, Riverview converted an old observation tower, the Eye-Full Tower (a corny pun), into a new ride, the Pair-O-Chutes. The Pair-O-Chutes was based on a parachute training tower invented for the military by Maj. James Strong. Riverview's was the first civilian tower in the US. Riverview's tower was copied by the 1939 World's Fair for their amusement zone, and that ride was later moved to Steeplechase Park on Coney Island. In 1939, a couple got married on the Pair-O-Chutes. For more details, see the book version of Laugh Your Troubles Away - the Complete History of Riverview Park. Also during this time period, Riverview renamed the Big Dipper coaster to the Zephyr in 1936, and to the Comet in 1940. The Pippin coaster was renamed the Silver Flash in 1938, and the Skyrocket was renamed the Blue Streak in 1936.

With the coming of World War II, money and materials for new attractions dried up, but because people were unable to travel much due to wartime gas rationing, people did continue to attend the park in large numbers. During the war years Riverview only added a few carnival type rides, most of which had been purchased used. After the war ended, people suddenly got the travel bug and Riverview's attendance plunged sharply. Consequently, few attractions were able to be added until the 1950's.

History - 50's & 60's

During the 50's, the park added the Showboat in 1957, and a Wild Mouse coaster for the 1958 season. The Blue Streak coaster (aka Skyrocket) was remodeled into the Fireball coaster in 1959 by removing the first double-dip drop and making the drop go about ten feet underground. The Space Ride was added for the 1963 season, which allowed the patrons to cross a section of the park through the air.

In 1965, the park demolished the aging Greyhound coaster, and replaced it with the new Jetstream coaster. A smaller ride than the one it replaced, it never paid off its cost due to the premature closing of the park at the end of the 1967 season.

In October 1967, it was announced the Riverview would not reopen for 1968. Chicago was stunned! After some discussion, it was decided not to hold a goodbye party due to the uncertain Fall weather, and the lack of ride operators, who had moved on to their off-season jobs. The reason for Riverview's sudden demise is simple. Greed. The land the park sat on was worth more than the park's revenue. It had nothing to do with racial problems or Chicago politics. For the full story, see the documentary video or the book version of Laugh Your Troubles Away - The Complete History of Riverview Park.

The Shoot-the-Chutes

Every couple of months or so, we will examine a featured attraction at Riverview. Here you will be able to learn more about different attractions ranging from the smallest sideshow to the large coasters.

One of the favorite attractions at Riverview was the Shoot-the-Chutes, known as the Chutes for short. While many patrons rode this thrilling ride, few knew how old the Chutes really was. It was constructed in 1907 as an outside concession by the former owner of the Shoot-the-Chutes at Chutes Park, Chicago. Once Chutes Park went out of business at the end of the 1906 season, he needed a new home for his ride. Rather than move his existing ride, the concessionaire built a larger, more elaborate one.

In the early years of the ride, it had a large sign on top reading, "Ride the Chutes in Fairyland". A large monster mouth surrounded the tunnel which all riders had to pass through to reach the elevator to the top.

After a rehab in the 1920s, the sign and the monster mouth were removed. The beautiful globe lights that lined the outside of the Chutes were replaced with more utilitarian looking goose-neck lamps running down the center of the ride. The ride was just as thrilling though!

Double Whirl ride

The Double Whirl ride was introduced at Riverview in the 1906 season. It was a locally produced product, being made by the Double Whirl Manufacturing Company of Chicago. It consisted of SIX Ferris Wheels that rotated around a central pole, while the Ferris Wheels rotated vertically at the same time. Each Wheel had six benches that could accomodate two people, so the ride in total could hold 72 people.

The rights to manufacture the ride were apparently later obtained by C. W. Parker, a noted builder of Carousels, Ferris Wheels, and other carnival rides. Parker's main factory closed in 1926, with various Parker products continuing to be manufactured by Paul Parker until 1955.

Aero-Stat & Strat-O-Stat

One of Riverview's longest-lasting attractions was the Aero-Stat. Originally installed near the front gate, it was moved to the rear of the park around 1908. The original cars were changed in the mid-teens to ones that looked like biplanes. In the 1930's the park installed cars that looked like rocket ships and renamed the ride Strat-O-Stat.

White Flyer Roller Coaster

One of Riverview's first attractions was the roller coaster named the "White Flyer". Built for Riverview's first season in 1904, it is a type of coaster called a "Figure-8" because the track design looks like a Figure-8 from above. This design was invented and patented in 1894 by E. Joy Morris, and apparently licensed to other builders as Riverview's was built by the Ingersoll Construction Company. Installed just inside the front gate, it had its first accident three days after opening, when a 25 year old man stood up and fell out of his car, suffering only a broken leg. The "White Flyer" is thought to have operated until the early 1920's.

The cars of this ride typically looked more like a traditional carriage than what we now think of as a roller coaster car. The photo below shows a car from the last surviving Figure-8 in the world, the "Leap the Dips" at Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Stop by Lakemont and treat yourself to a ride back into the past!

The Flying Turns

After the closure of the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair, Riverview acquired the Flying Turns ride that had been featured on the amusement midway there. This thrilling roller coaster gave riders the feeling of being flight by running in a wooden trough instead of riding on top of track. This popular ride lasted until the park's closing at the end of the 1967 season. A new Flying Turns based on the Riverview blueprints is being constructed at Knoebel's Grove Amusement Park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.