Canobie Lake Park

Salem, New Hampshire

Like many other parks in the early 20th century, Canobie Lake Park got its start thanks to a local trolley line wanting to increase its ridership, especially on weekends. The Hudson, Pelham & Salem Railway opened Canobie less than eight weeks after starting trolley service in 1902. The park sits on the 375-acre, spring-fed Canobie Lake. The rail company merged with other companies in 1912 and formed the Massachusetts Northeast Street Railway Company, but the ever-increasing popularity of automobies drove the company out of business in March 1929, which also forced the closure of Canobie Lake Park.

The park reopened in 1932 after a private citizen used the proceeds from his "electric paving machine" business and purchased Canobie Lake Park. One of the most popular features of the park was the Dancehall Theater which has hosted a variety of artists such as Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, and Aerosmith. A fire, a robbery, and a hurricane in 1958 forced the original paving machine family to sell the park to three close friends in New Jersey. The families of these three still own the park. Canobie Lake Park presently has a wonderful range of rides varying from an historic 1902 antique carousel old to modern thrill machines.

The player below contains Episode 1304 of the CoasterGallery.com Podcast recorded live at Canobie Lake. If you browser doesn't display the player, you can download Episode #1304 here.

Canobie Corkscrew

Untamed

Yankee Cannonball