Frederick Ingersoll
Encyclopedia
Frederick Ingersoll was an inventor, designer, and builder who created the world's first chain of amusement park
s (known collectively as "Luna Parks" regardless of their actual name) and whose manufacturing company built 277 roller coaster
s, fueling the popularity of trolley park
s in the first third of the Twentieth Century. Some of these parks and roller coasters are still existing today.
, one of five brothers. By 1900, he had moved to Glenfield, Pennsylvania
, a community on the Ohio River
near Pittsburgh. His 1900 United States census
form described his occupation as a "coin machine proprietor," but his manufacturing company did more than just sell vending machines: they made them and amusement park rides as well.
s - mainly the type now known as "figure eight" coasters like the first one to be installed in Kennywood Park (1902) - and scenic railroads (originally called "Russian Mountains
" as the type originated in Europe). Ingersoll also designed and built another ride that many parks presented as their signature attraction, the Shoot-the-Chutes
water ride, a type that has since evolved into the modern log flume
that many current parks feature.
By 1901, Ingersoll and his company broadened their scope from designing and building amusement park rides to designing and building amusement parks themselves. Two early successes, Riverside Amusement Park
in Indianapolis
and Rocky Glen Park
near Moosic, Pennsylvania
, were trolley parks designed, built, and opened by Ingersoll by 1903. With the success of the Ingersoll parks (and that of Coney Island's Luna Park
, which opened the same year), Ingersoll conceived of an amusement park chain, featuring establishments both individually and collectively named Luna Park. By 1904, the Luna Park Amusement Company was formed with investor help.
in Columbus, Ohio
, Ingersoll turned his attention to his proposed Luna Park chain. The first two, Cleveland
and Pittsburgh
- the 36th and 37th parks designed and made by Ingersoll Company - ignited an explosion of park building worldwide, with Luna Parks (both associated with Ingersoll and those having no such connection) being spread around the world. While some Luna Parks (such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh) opening to sizable success, the monetary demands of constantly maintaining and updating rides and other attractions led Ingersoll to declare bankruptcy in 1908.
As a result of bankruptcy proceedings, the Cleveland flagship park was sold to one of the investors of the Luna Park Amusement Company, Matthew Bramley, owner of the Cleveland Trinidad Paving Company (at the time the world's largest paving company). Bramley eventually became owner of Luna Park Amusement Company as Ingersoll's monetary problems continued in the 1910s. For a second bankruptcy filing (in 1911), Ingersoll listed liabilities of $179,668 and assets of three suits of clothes, valued at $75.
The design and construction of Ingersoll roller coasters, Shoot-the-Chutes, and Luna Parks continued through the 1910s and 1920s despite Ingersoll's never-ending money problems. The oldest Luna Park that is still in operation (Melbourne, Australia) opened in 1912; while the Mexico City Luna Park was short-lived, Luna Loca is currently in operation on the site, while Athens' Ta Aikonada is a descendant of Ingersoll's Luna Park. At its peak, his amusement park empire had 44 sites; his construction company had built 277 roller coaster rides, many of them for parks that competed against his Luna Parks at one time or another, from Charleston, West Virginia
to Buenos Aires
(the latter later becoming the site of an athletic arena), to Lisbon
. "Luna Park" had entered the vernacular
for an amusement park (at one point, Ingersoll had briefly renamed the parks that his company designed, built, and owned as "Ingersoll Luna Parks" to distinguish them from those to which he had no connection). In Turkey
, all amusement parks are called "Luna Park" regardless of their official names.
, on 23 October 1927. In 1929, former roller coaster designer of Ingersoll Construction, John A. Miller, eulogized him by stating, "We owe all the success of the amusement park to Fred Ingersoll." In the same eulogy, Lloyd Jeffries followed up by proclaiming "Ingersoll was the tree from which the amusement limbs branched forth, as many of the leading park men of today came from that tree in one way or another."
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
s (known collectively as "Luna Parks" regardless of their actual name) and whose manufacturing company built 277 roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
s, fueling the popularity of trolley park
Trolley park
In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. These trolley parks were created by the streetcar companies to give people a...
s in the first third of the Twentieth Century. Some of these parks and roller coasters are still existing today.
Biography
Ingersoll was born in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, one of five brothers. By 1900, he had moved to Glenfield, Pennsylvania
Glenfield, Pennsylvania
Glenfield is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, along the Ohio River. The population was 205 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Glenfield is located at ....
, a community on the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
near Pittsburgh. His 1900 United States census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
form described his occupation as a "coin machine proprietor," but his manufacturing company did more than just sell vending machines: they made them and amusement park rides as well.
Ingersoll Construction
In the 1890s, he designed (and the Ingersoll Construction Company built) roller coasterRoller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
s - mainly the type now known as "figure eight" coasters like the first one to be installed in Kennywood Park (1902) - and scenic railroads (originally called "Russian Mountains
Russian Mountains
Russian rollercoaster were a predecessor to the roller coaster.The earliest roller coasters were descended from Russian winter sled rides held on specially constructed hills of ice, sometimes up to 200 feet tall...
" as the type originated in Europe). Ingersoll also designed and built another ride that many parks presented as their signature attraction, the Shoot-the-Chutes
Shoot-the-Chutes
Shoot-the-Chutes is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume, a Shoot-the-Chutes generally has larger boats and one single drop....
water ride, a type that has since evolved into the modern log flume
Log flume
A log flume is a flume specifically constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain to a sawmill by using flowing water. These watertight trough-like channels could be built to span a long distance across chasms and down steep mountain slopes...
that many current parks feature.
By 1901, Ingersoll and his company broadened their scope from designing and building amusement park rides to designing and building amusement parks themselves. Two early successes, Riverside Amusement Park
Riverside Amusement Park (Indianapolis)
For other parks with the same name, see Riverside Amusement Park Not to be confused with Riverside Park , which is also known as "Riverside City Park"...
in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
and Rocky Glen Park
Rocky Glen Park
Known by a variety of names over its 101-year existence, Rocky Glen Park was a park near Moosic, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded by Arthur Frothingham in 1886 as a picnic park, it was transformed into an amusement park by engineer and entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll in 1905...
near Moosic, Pennsylvania
Moosic, Pennsylvania
Moosic is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania six miles south of Scranton and northeast of Wilkes-Barre on the Lackawanna River....
, were trolley parks designed, built, and opened by Ingersoll by 1903. With the success of the Ingersoll parks (and that of Coney Island's Luna Park
Luna Park, Coney Island
Luna Park was an amusement park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City from 1903 to 1944. A second Luna Park was opened on the former site of the nearby Astroland amusement park...
, which opened the same year), Ingersoll conceived of an amusement park chain, featuring establishments both individually and collectively named Luna Park. By 1904, the Luna Park Amusement Company was formed with investor help.
Luna Parks
After the 1905 opening of Indianola ParkIndianola Park
Indianola Park was an amusement park that operated in the University District in Columbus, Ohio from 1905-37.-Location:The entrance to Indianola Park was at N. 4th St. and E. 19th Ave. The park itself covered approximately and extended from E. 18th Ave. north to E. Norwich Ave. and east from N....
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Ingersoll turned his attention to his proposed Luna Park chain. The first two, Cleveland
Luna Park, Cleveland
Luna Park was an amusement park in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, from 1905 to 1929. Constructed by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a hilly site bounded by Woodland Avenue, Woodhill, Mt...
and Pittsburgh
Luna Park, Pittsburgh
Luna Park was an amusement park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, from 1905 to 1909. Constructed and owned by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a 16 acre hilly site bounded by Baum Boulevard, North Craig Street, and Centre Avenue, and included roller coasters, picnic pavilions, carousels, a...
- the 36th and 37th parks designed and made by Ingersoll Company - ignited an explosion of park building worldwide, with Luna Parks (both associated with Ingersoll and those having no such connection) being spread around the world. While some Luna Parks (such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh) opening to sizable success, the monetary demands of constantly maintaining and updating rides and other attractions led Ingersoll to declare bankruptcy in 1908.
As a result of bankruptcy proceedings, the Cleveland flagship park was sold to one of the investors of the Luna Park Amusement Company, Matthew Bramley, owner of the Cleveland Trinidad Paving Company (at the time the world's largest paving company). Bramley eventually became owner of Luna Park Amusement Company as Ingersoll's monetary problems continued in the 1910s. For a second bankruptcy filing (in 1911), Ingersoll listed liabilities of $179,668 and assets of three suits of clothes, valued at $75.
The design and construction of Ingersoll roller coasters, Shoot-the-Chutes, and Luna Parks continued through the 1910s and 1920s despite Ingersoll's never-ending money problems. The oldest Luna Park that is still in operation (Melbourne, Australia) opened in 1912; while the Mexico City Luna Park was short-lived, Luna Loca is currently in operation on the site, while Athens' Ta Aikonada is a descendant of Ingersoll's Luna Park. At its peak, his amusement park empire had 44 sites; his construction company had built 277 roller coaster rides, many of them for parks that competed against his Luna Parks at one time or another, from Charleston, West Virginia
Luna Park, Charleston
Luna Park was an amusement park in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, that was open to the public from 1912 until 1923. Located on the western side of Charleston on the north bank of the Kanawha River, the park was a popular destination that featured a roller coaster, a dance pavilion, a public...
to Buenos Aires
Luna Park, Buenos Aires
For any of the amusement parks of the same name, see Luna Park; for any other use of the term, see Luna Park Luna Park is an 8,000-seat arena, located on the corner of Corrientes and Bouchard Avenues, in the barrio of San Nicolás, east Buenos Aires city and near Puerto Madero...
(the latter later becoming the site of an athletic arena), to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. "Luna Park" had entered the vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
for an amusement park (at one point, Ingersoll had briefly renamed the parks that his company designed, built, and owned as "Ingersoll Luna Parks" to distinguish them from those to which he had no connection). In Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, all amusement parks are called "Luna Park" regardless of their official names.
Death and eulogy
Ingersoll committed suicide in Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, on 23 October 1927. In 1929, former roller coaster designer of Ingersoll Construction, John A. Miller, eulogized him by stating, "We owe all the success of the amusement park to Fred Ingersoll." In the same eulogy, Lloyd Jeffries followed up by proclaiming "Ingersoll was the tree from which the amusement limbs branched forth, as many of the leading park men of today came from that tree in one way or another."
Ingersoll amusement parks
While Ingersoll's amusement parks were collectively known as Luna Parks, many of his company's creations had other names. Below is a sampling of the parks that were designed and built by the Ingersoll Construction Company prior to Ingersoll's death in 1927.- Riverside Amusement ParkRiverside Amusement Park (Indianapolis)For other parks with the same name, see Riverside Amusement Park Not to be confused with Riverside Park , which is also known as "Riverside City Park"...
(IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana, 1903–1970) - Rocky Glen ParkRocky Glen ParkKnown by a variety of names over its 101-year existence, Rocky Glen Park was a park near Moosic, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded by Arthur Frothingham in 1886 as a picnic park, it was transformed into an amusement park by engineer and entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll in 1905...
(near Moosic, PennsylvaniaMoosic, PennsylvaniaMoosic is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania six miles south of Scranton and northeast of Wilkes-Barre on the Lackawanna River....
, 1903–1988) - Carnival Court (Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, 1904–1920), became Luna Park before being damaged by fire July 14, 1909, later changed its name to Athletic Park - Indianola ParkIndianola ParkIndianola Park was an amusement park that operated in the University District in Columbus, Ohio from 1905-37.-Location:The entrance to Indianola Park was at N. 4th St. and E. 19th Ave. The park itself covered approximately and extended from E. 18th Ave. north to E. Norwich Ave. and east from N....
(Columbus, OhioColumbus, OhioColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, 1905–1937) - Luna Park, PittsburghLuna Park, PittsburghLuna Park was an amusement park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, from 1905 to 1909. Constructed and owned by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a 16 acre hilly site bounded by Baum Boulevard, North Craig Street, and Centre Avenue, and included roller coasters, picnic pavilions, carousels, a...
(1905–1909) - Luna Park, ClevelandLuna Park, ClevelandLuna Park was an amusement park in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, from 1905 to 1929. Constructed by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a hilly site bounded by Woodland Avenue, Woodhill, Mt...
(1905–1930) - Luna Park, SchenectadyLuna Park, SchenectadyLuna Park was one of several names for an amusement park that existed in Rexford, New York, near Schenectady, from 1901 to 1933. In addition to Luna Park , it was also known as Dolle's Park Luna Park was one of several names for an amusement park that existed in Rexford, New York, near Schenectady,...
(1901–1933, Ingersoll added the amusement park in 1906), later known as Dolle's Park and Rexford Park - Luna Park, ArlingtonLuna Park, ArlingtonLuna Park was an amusement park in Arlington, Virginia, USA, from 1906 to 1915. A trolley park that was constructed and owned by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied near the intersection of South Glebe Road and Jefferson Davis Highway Luna Park (also known as Luna Park Arlington, Luna Park...
(near Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, 1906–1915) - Luna Park, ScrantonLuna Park, ScrantonLuna Park was an amusement park in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA, from 1906 to 1916. Constructed and owned by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a hilly site and included roller coasters, picnic pavilions, carousels, a fun house, a roller rink, a concert shell, a dance hall, bumper cars, and a...
(Pennsylvania, 1906–1916) - Luna Park, Mexico City (1906-?) - Luna Loca amusement park is currently operating on the site
- Luna Park, Mansfield (Mansfield, OhioMansfield, OhioMansfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Richland County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau, approximately southwest of Cleveland and northeast of Columbus....
, 1907-1940s) - Luna Park, BerlinLuna Park, BerlinLuna Park in the Halensee area of Berlin, Germany was an amusement park in operation from 1909 to 1933. At that time, it was Europe's largest. The park was closed for World War I but reopened after Armistice...
(1909–1933) - Luna Park, CharlestonLuna Park, CharlestonLuna Park was an amusement park in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, that was open to the public from 1912 until 1923. Located on the western side of Charleston on the north bank of the Kanawha River, the park was a popular destination that featured a roller coaster, a dance pavilion, a public...
(West Virginia, 1912–1922) - Luna Park Aidonaka - now Ta Aidonaka, park near AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...