It was a walk down memory lane on Monday evening at a ceremony in the Fort Lee Museum to mark the 40th Anniversary of the closing of Palisades Amusement Park.
In 1898, the Bergen County Traction Company created a trolley park perched on 38 acres atop the New Jersey Palisades that bordered Cliffside Park and Fort Lee.
After 10 years, in 1908 the trolley company sold the park to the first mayor of Cliffside Park, August Neumann. They hired Alvin Dexter to bring rides and attractions. The Schenck brothers purchased it in 1910. By the 20s the park had grown famous, by adding the third of Traver’s Cyclone roller coasters, the world's largest salt water pool, dubbed "Surf Bathing" or "The Whirlpool" and several celebrated contests. In 1934, the park was sold to the Rosenthal brothers, wealthy entrepreneurs who built the Coney Island Cyclone.
Find out what's happening in Fort Leefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Texas-based Winston-Centex Corp. acquired the property in 1971, leasing it back to Irving Rosenthal for a final season. Palisades closed on Sept. 12 of that year before it was rezoned for high rise apartment buildings.
Winston Towers and Carlyle Towers (in Cliffside Park), and the Buckingham (Fort Lee) now occupy the former park site.
Find out what's happening in Fort Leefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Sol Abrams, former Palisades Amusement Park vice president and chief of public relations was honored as the Fort Lee Museum Person of the Year. Abrams worked tirelessly from 1949 through the last chapter in 1971 to present and promote the park.
“I’m glad to see so many old-time friends,” Abrams said when accepting his award. He added that he is particularly happy to know that memories of the park are being preserved at the museum.
He started all the pageants and the contests and worked with another company, Park Merchandising, to have tie-ins with big national advertisers and gave samples of their products away.
According to Abrams, the Miss America Teenage Pageant grew and flourished for several years after the park closed and he had it on national television and nationally franchised.
“I had amusement parks in different parts of the country running local pageants and the main prize was the winner would come to Palisades Amusement Park. So in effect, they were advertising and publicizing our park in their hometown area.”
Janice Senackerib, whose father, Fred Nasif, owned the French fry stand; the waffle stand, the Circus Restaurant and the pool stand at Palisades said you couldn’t get in the family unless you worked in the park.
Of the anniversary, Vince Gargiulo, historian and author of “Palisades Amusement Park, A Century of Fond Memories” said, “It’s a sad day because it marks the park closing, but it’s a day to remember and that’s really what Palisades is all about.
“Everybody took something different away. To reminisce about it now, Palisades always brings back that little sparkle in the eye and great memories of better days. I hope it’s never forgotten – a lot of people today still remember it vividly. I think everybody loves an amusement park, so why not learn more about an amusement park that used to be in your own back yard.”
Palisades Amusement Park details:
- World's largest saltwater pool
- World's greatest amusement resort.
- World’s best French fries (soaked in malt vinegar) and originally sold at “potato chip stands.”
- Over 200 rides and attractions (including 17 coasters spanning
the years).
