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Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v03n14)
White City Amusement Park at Broad Ripple: part one - by David G. Vanderstel and Connie Zeigler
posted: Jul. 14, 2006
An excerpt from In Pursuit of Leisure Time: The Development and Role of Amusement Parks in Indianapolis 1880s - 1970. A Research Report completed for a Project supported by an Indiana Heritage Research Grant, a joint program of the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Humanities Council. Published December 1992
White City Amusement Park was another act in the unfolding story of Indianapolis amusement parks in the summer of 1906. According to a local press account, White City opened its gates on 26 May "after an expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars and the efforts of hundreds of workmen for weeks." The story made no mention of the crowd attending that Saturday, but the number of attractions offered at the park must have assured a successful first day. The park management promised to drop fifty dollars in money orders (redeemable at the Indianapolis Star office) from Horace Wild's airship from "thousands of feet above the park." They also promoted the park as "one of the liveliest and best known show places of the central West, with all the popular hair-raising thrill-producing concessions, including a loop-the-loop." [87]
Owned by the White City Corporation of Indianapolis, White City Amusement Park was located in Broad Ripple Park, Broad Ripple, Indiana, a small town situated a few miles north of Indianapolis along the White River. The park had been a popular swimming and boating resort before 1890, offering assorted recreational activities and swimming exhibitions in White River. [88]
The area itself had been a recreational haven for local people and residents of Indianapolis, many of whom erected resort cabins and cottages along the White River, thereby contributing further to the emergence of Broad Ripple as a place for play and leisure. As early as August 1901, the public could attend special concerts in the park, cruise the White River on the steamer "Sunshine" or the launch "Isabella," or ride the "switch back" and merry-go-round. [89]
image courtesy of The Lobraico Family
The principals in this new amusement corporation were W. H. Tabb and Dr. Robert C. Light [90], who was instrumental in organizing the Broad Ripple Rapid Transit Company. Conveniently, the rail lines ran from 34th Street to 36th Street on Salem Street, down 36th to Pennsylvania, then across 49th street to College Avenue and thence to Broad Ripple. [91]
The frequency of cars on these lines into Broad Ripple increased when White City opened, arriving at the park every five minutes. [92]
White City, which opened May 26, 1906, and whose namesake was the beautiful city erected at the Columbian Exhibition of 1893, sounded about as perfect as an amusement park could get. Even before its opening, the Indianapolis Star described its many attractions, some nearly identical to those already operating at Wonderland and Riverside. Visitors would pass through large iron gates to gain entry to the park. Upon entering, visitors would see the band stand and, beyond that, the "shoot the chutes," rising about 100 feet above a lake basin that required some twelve hours to pump full. [93]
Opening events included Horace Wild who was scheduled to rise thousands of feet in his airship "and throw out red envelopes which will contain money orders for money given as prizes by The Star." [94]
There also would be band concerts by the American Military Band, under the direction of Gustave Krumme. [95]
Rides were similar to those at Riverside and Wonderland, but White City emphasized its natural surroundings and its beautiful trees; apparently, sidewalks were even constructed around the trees in order to preserve the natural beauty of the site. Like its competitor Riverside, White City offered canoeing on the river and picnicking as additional enticements.
But, White City's mechanical rides quickly became the main attractions. The scenic railway delighted visitors "with its thrilling ups and downs through the tops of forest trees and along the painted scenery." The "Buster Brown" was a "tricky niche for novelty." "Vesuvius" reenacted the disastrous volcano eruption that destroyed Pompeii. "Shoot the Chutes" was a water slide emptying into an artificial lake which required twelve hours to "pump it full from White River." The "Loop-the-Loop" tested the "desire for the unusual in pastime," while the "Bump the Bumps" was a "resort for haphazard fun." [96]
Other attractions included a Venetian canal, "Fighting the Flames" (a fire show), an open circus, the Theaters of Paris, the "Razzle Dazzle," and other midway rides. Park attractions were situated around a 500-foot center court containing concession stands. A 250-foot by 100-foot lagoon along the court's north end was spanned by a bridge under which the "chutes" passed. [97]
- - - end of part one - - -
References for Broad Ripple Park part one
87 - "Broad Ripple Healthy Town . . . ," Indianapolis Star or News, 14 January 1923.
88 - "Lady Swimmers at Broad Ripple Park," Indianapolis News, 21 June 1890, p. 8.
89 - Broad Ripple Park poster, August 1901. Reproduced in The Village Sampler, n. d.
90 - Robert Coleman Light, M.D. (b. June 3, 1856, Grundy, Pulaski County, Kentucky; d. ? ) Light moved to Boone County, Indiana, at a young age; he pursued his education at home and at local public schools. Later, he attended the Indiana Medical College in Chicago, from which he received his degree in medicine in 1879. He took up residence in Broad Ripple where he began a practice. In addition to his medical practice, Light was involved in handling municipal and corporation bonds. In 1886, he was a principal organizer of the Broad Ripple Natural Gas Company, which ran an eight-inch main to Indianapolis. He also organized the Broad Ripple Rapid Transit Company (c. 1894), the first electric interurban railway constructed in the nation. In 1897, the company became the Broad Ripple Traction Company and later still the Union Traction Company, supposedly the largest interurbansystem in the world with 400 miles of track. In 1902, Light purchased Dawson's farm along White River and platted it for summer cottages. Dunn, 2: 870-872; "Broad Ripple Healthy Town . . . ," Indianapolis Star or News, 13 January 1923; "History of Broad Ripple," p. 24; "How and Where to Spend a Saturday Afternoon Away from Home; Camp Scenes and Life on White River, Above Broad Ripple Park," Indianapolis News, 25 July 1903, p. 13.
91 - "Ridiculous Beginning, Now Modern," Indianapolis Star, 7 November 1971, C-9; "A History of Broad Ripple," (1968), p. 24.
92 - Esther Dawson, "Broad Ripple: A History of the Northern Indianapolis Community Built Around the Construction of the Central Canal," (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, ?).
93 - "White City Aglow for Its Opening," Indianapolis News, 6 May 1906, p. 31.
94 - "White City Concert," Indianapolis Star, 27 May 1906, p. 31.
95 - Ibid.
96 - "White City Concert," Indianapolis Star, 27 May 1906, p. 31; "White City Aglow for Its Opening," Indianapolis News, 6 May 1906, p. 31.
97 - "History of Broad Ripple," p. 31.
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