Located on 64 acres (26 ha) in western Louisville at the Ohio River, it offered over 50 rides and attractions, as well as a swimming pool, skating rink and theatre.
It was located at the western terminus of Market Street (originally Fontaine Ferry Road) at what is now Southwestern Parkway in Louisville's Shawnee neighborhood.
When the West End became integrated in the 1960s, the park remained as a constant reminder of Jim Crow to African Americans.
On May 4, 1969, the first day of Fontaine Ferry's operating season, a race riot broke out during which the park was heavily vandalized.
[5] The nearby Shawnee neighborhood had also been integrated, and white flight was occurring heavily there, especially after the 1968 riots in the West End.