Silver Beach County Park

Story

Silver Beach Amusement Park was located in St. Joseph, Michigan. The small amusement park operated between 1891 and 1971.HistorySilver Beach opened as a resort in 1891 when local businessmen in boat building Logan Drake and Louis D. Wallace built vacation cottages as Silver Beach Amusement and Realty Company along Lake Michigan. Construction of buildings such as a pavilion followed and were completed in 1896.After the park was established, two of the earliest aviators, Augustus Moore Herring and Logan Archbold Vilas, used the beach to experiment with aircraft, the latter being the first person to fly across Lake Michigan when he flew from Silver Beach to Chicago.The first roller coaster, Chase through the Clouds, opened in 1905; it was replaced in 1923 by another coaster, the Velvet (later "the Comet"). Also added in 1905 were a roller rink, with a pipe organ included in 1906, both firsts in the region, and a boxing ring, with matches organized by boxer Tommy Ryan. A dance hall opened in 1907, replaced by the Shadowland Ballroom in 1927; performers would include the founders of MCA Inc., founded after Drake encouraged two performers to create the endeavor. In the ensuing decades, the park expanded, including the additions of a ferris wheel, miniature train, children's amusement ride area, and miniature golf course, and maintained continued popularity due in part to the owners providing steamboat access from Chicago. In what has become an icon of Silver Beach, a carousel had been added by 1916, taking advantage of the enlarged area of beach sand created by Lake Michigan in the years during the park's operation.