Electric Park

The emergence of trolley parks in the last dozen years of the 19th century coincided with the rise to prominence of three entities: the electric companies (which grew rapidly as much of the United States was undergoing electrification since the 1880s), the railway companies (which constructed new interurban rail lines mainly in the eastern half of the U. S.), and – starting about 1890 – the replacement of horse-drawn cars by electric trolley companies.

Originally, the trolleys and interurban lines would either operate at a reduced level on weekends or be completely idle.

Like their Luna Park and White City cousins, a typical Electric Park featured a shoot-the-chutes and lagoon, a roller coaster (usually a figure eight or a mountain railway), a midway, a Ferris wheel, games, and a pavilion.

The competition was fierce, often driving the electric parks out of business with increasing costs of equipment upgrades, upkeep, and insurance.

While the date and location of the first Electric Park is currently unknown,[3][page needed] several existed before 1900.

Baltimore's Electric Park originally was a horse track. Rides and similar attractions were added as amusement parks increased in popularity in the beginning of the 20th century.
Postcard view of Electric Park, Baltimore 's main entrance, ca. 1907. The entrance also served as a stop for the local trolley (as evidenced by the tracks in the lower right corner). The park buildings were razed in 1916.
Baltimore's Electric Park had many of the attractions common to many amusement parks in the first two decades of the Twentieth Century, including a re-enactment of the Johnstown Flood.
Postcard view of Electric Park, Baltimore 's Johnstown Flood exhibit. Many Electric Parks, White City amusement parks , and Luna Parks installed state-of-the-art (for the time period) simulations of the 1889 disaster.