Quassy Amusement Park A Survivor Among ‘Trolley Parks’

12/6/2002

MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – They were referred to as “trolley parks” during their heyday nearly a century ago. The entire family, along with a picnic basket packed with goodies for the day, would hop aboard an electrically-driven trolley and leisurely ride the rails to the outskirts of town for an enjoyable day at the park – the “trolley park.”

There were more than 1,000 of these parks in the United States prior to The Great Depression of 1929. Some were simply a picnic grove with an athletic field and swimming area.

Others were full-fledged amusement parks with a variety of rides, games, dance halls and roller skating rinks. The rail companies built many of the parks themselves, usually at one end of a rail line, to generate passenger traffic on the weekends.

Today there are only 11 “trolley parks” still operating in the nation and Quassy Amusement Park on Lake Quassapaug here is one of them.

Native Americans reportedly named the lake centuries ago, and depending on the source of the interpretation it means “greatest pond,” “rock pond,” or “big pond.”

The 20-acre park - simply called Quassy today - was founded in 1908, the same year a trolley line from Waterbury to Middlebury was completed by the Connecticut Trolley Company. Prior to that the lake was known for its outstanding fishing, sparkling water and the Lake Grove House (1888), where clambakes were the specialty.

A trolley trip to the park in 1909 cost 15 cents, according to newspaper clippings compiled in scrapbooks by late Middlebury resident Helen Benson. Settled in 1702, Middlebury was appropriately named as the community was established between Waterbury and Woodbury.

If you came to the park in the early 1900s, it was for swimming, dancing and picnicking.

In 1910 a dance pavilion was constructed near the lakefront and later converted into a bathhouse, according to Bob Goldsack, a New England amusement parks historian and author.

A new and much larger dance hall was built in 1915. Today the structure serves as a redemption arcade and is the oldest existing building in the park.

While Quassy didn’t capture a lot of headlines during its early days, the trolley line did. The Benson scrapbooks contain a newspaper clipping reporting 20 people were injured in a head-on trolley car collision at a switch in Middlebury in 1917.

Dancing became so popular during the “Roaring ’20s” (1920s) that the park hosted bands seven nights a week during the summer months, Goldsack notes in his book “A Century of Fun, A Pictorial History of New England Amusement Parks.”

Boat and canoe rides on the lake were also a favorite of guests as numerous postcards and photos from that era reveal. Goldsack also mentions the park had several riding devices and concession stands during the 1920s.

In 1928 major improvements were made to the road (Route 64) leading to the lake and that soon spelled disaster for the trolleys.

Buses started making the run to and from the park and by 1930 the trolley era came to a close at Quassy. The trolley line had lasted a mere 22 years. The nation also sank into The Great Depression (1929) and many businesses – including amusement parks – started to fold.

Quassy “limped along” during the difficult years of the depression, Goldsack says in his book. In 1937 John Frantzis, George Terezakis and Mike Leon purchased the property.

The new owners decided to start using the large dance hall for roller skating on evenings when dancing was not held.

A 1940 advertisement appearing in the local newspaper promoted the merry-go-round, roller skating, motor boats, bathing and dancing at Quassy.

That year the park also constructed a building referred to as the Tea Room overlooking the lake, which was later converted into a restaurant.

The United States was drawn into World War II the following year, but Quassy maintained its presence in the region. Round trip bus rides to the park from Waterbury were advertised for 35 cents in 1941.

That same year ice 14 inches thick was harvested from the lake and shipped to regional hotels and warehouses, according to the Benson scrapbooks. Ice harvesting was an important part of the local economy during the winter months as the lake provided clear, clean ice for personal and commercial use.

The park also donated its property across Route 64 to the Town of Middlebury for a baseball field. It was on this parcel of land that the Quassy trolley station once stood.

Quassy did not open for Memorial Day in 1943 due to a ban on pleasure driving during the height of World War II. While the property did function during the summer of ’43, there were no fireworks that year at the park, newspaper accounts in the scrapbooks say.

The war ended in 1945 and Quassy promoted new rides for the 1946 season.

Interest in the park continued to grow following the war and more rides were added in 1948, including a train and thrill ride called the Octopus.

According to park records, a new kiddyland was added in 1952 as well as the Clambake Pavilion, now referred to as the Fieldside Pavilion.

The kiddyland was said to be the first installed by the former Allan Herschell Co. of North Tonawanda, N.Y. The Herschell firm was then considered the largest manufacturer of amusement rides in the world, best known for its carousels.

The new Herschell kiddyland built at Quassy included a Little Dipper roller coaster, Sky Fighter jets, boats and a pony kart ride. Quassy’s kiddyland remains much the same today as it did more than 50 years ago, but the kiddy boat ride has since been relocated in the park.

Other Herschell rides were added over the years at the park including a helicopter and the Monster steel roller coaster.

Quassy’s Monster coaster is one of only a handful still in existence.

The park continued to develop during the post-war era as it was easily accessible to the driving public. But as trends continued to change, so did Quassy.

Dancing and roller skating fell out of favor and by 1964 the huge dance hall and roller rink had been transformed into an indoor miniature golf course. In 1969 the golf was replaced by indoor electric bumper cars.

The large structure underwent its last major transition in 1972 when the park moved its arcade into the building.

Today there are dozens of redemption and video games in the arcade, including popular Skee Ball alleys.

The park also has a variety of other family rides such as the Tilt-A-Whirl, Saturn Six, Music Fest, Paratrooper and bumper cars. There are more than two dozen rides and attractions currently in the park, which is owned and operated by a third generation of the Frantzis family.

Guests still come to enjoy Quassy Beach and the relaxation offered at this historic, traditional park. Quassy has indeed survived the test of time.

- Ron Gustafson, author/historian

Acknowledgements:
Middlebury Library (Helen Benson scrapbooks)
Middlebury Historical Society
Bob Goldsack, amusement parks historian
National Amusement Park Historical Association, Jim Futrell, historian