Lakeside Amusement Park

Lakeside Amusement Park
Denver, Colorado

Lakeside got its start in 1908 as part of the City Beautiful movement that was popular in the United States in the early 1900s. Adolph Zang was a brewer that wanted to open a park, so he literally founded the city of Lakeside, Colorado, and he formed the Lakeside Realty and Amusement Company. Because the new town was outside of Denver, it didn't have to worry about the blue laws that prohibited alcohol sales on Sundays. Being its own city, Lakeside had its own Mayor, police and fire departments, and a jail cell was literally built in the basement of one the park's buildings. Lakeside park was planned to cover 57 of the city's 160 acres while the remaining land was going to be up-scale housing, but these homes never were built. Because of its abundance of electrical lights, the park was often called White City in its early days. The tower at the main entrance was built in the early twentieth century when electric lights were still a novelty, and the tower, which is over 110 years old, still stands today. Adolph Zang sold the park in 1913. The park went bankrupt in 1917 and was purchased by local investors, but it went bankrupt again in 1933. Benjamin Krasner purchased the park in 1935. His daughter Rhoda currently owns and manages the park.

There were approximately 5,000 amusement parks in the early 1900s, but only around 100 have survived to the present day. When Lakeside celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008, only 27 other American family-owned amusement parks had stayed in business for 100 years.

In 2018, the park was installing a Zyklon / Galaxi steel coaster built in the early 1970s by Pinfari. The coaster has been previously operated in many locations under different names including Zyklon in Branson's Celebration City and Big Ohhhh! in Ohmaha's Fun Plex. At the end of the 2018 season, the ride has not opened in Denver, and I haven't even seen it given a name yet. The following coasters have been removed from Lakeside:

Scenic Railway (1908-1911) was a wood coaster that was destroyed by a fire.
Velvet Coaster (1908-1911) was a wood coaster that was destroyed by the same fire.
Derby (1911-1939) was a double-track out-and-back racing coaster. It was designed by the famous roller coaster creator John A. Miller.
Tickler (dates unknown) was an inclined platform where the cars descended and bounced off rails. Opened in the park's first few years, it was extremely rough on passengers and only operated for a few months.

Cyclone

Coaster (also known as Kiddie Coaster)

Wild Chipmunk