Route 66 - Fun Fair at Chain of Rocks Park in Saint Louis County, Missouri

By the 1850s St. Louis required infrastructure improvements. In 1855, 10,000 acres northeast of the city was for sale. Around 1860, officials were looking for a spot near the river suitable for a new waterworks. The waterworks and river access to the south was contaminated.

In 1893, the Brown and Robertson families sold 29 acres of land to the city, to be named Waterworks Park. Executives at the Waterworks thought that a park near the plant would be an excellent place to store excess water for emergency use and took their new roles seriously.

The park had brick barbecue pits, geometric flower gardens, benches, and a comfort station. Picnickers could also take a steamboat ride or visit one of the two nearby taverns at the top of the bluff, Hoffmans and Dillmann's Groves. The parks popularity continued into the 1920s.

As visitors continued to stream into the park, additional entertainment options began to appear in the early 1920s. Over the next 4 years, an amusement park emerged on the hills above the waterworks, owned by John Hoffman. The new park was called Parkview Amusement Park.

Route 66 was rerouted to cross the Chain of Rocks bridge in 1935. The re-routing of Route 66 generated better roads and new businesses near the bridge, including a gas station, and bolstered business at the amusement park.

Unfortunately for the Hoffmans, Trippe was very well-connected in the St. Louis area and was able to purchase all the public shares of the Parkview Amusement Park that the Hoffman family did not directly own, forcing them out of their own family-run business.

Trippe took over the amusement park sometime between 1942 and 1944 and started making improvements. The Sky Garden Bar and Restaurant, which overlooked the Mississippi River, was completed in 1945 and offered a fine dining in contrast to the fair concessions previously offered.

In 1950, Trippe opened one of his most popular ventures, the Ideal Roller Rink, . The Parkview Amusement Park was well known during Trippe’s ownership for its community outreach. He often hosted large events such as the Easter Egg Hunt that lasted after his death in 1955.

By 1958, the park needed extensive repairs. The new owners removed the Comet and the bandstand and converted the roller rink into a miniature golf course.  The park a fresh start with experienced amusement park men, Zimmerman and Thone. They catered heavily to school groups.

A Ferris wheel, Tilt-A-Whirl, and a flying jets ride were transferred to Chain of Rocks after being saved from the fire. The blaze destroyed one of St. Louis's most beloved amusement parks and forced patrons to travel outside the city center to find this kind of fun.

A steady decline in visitors followed the opening of Six Flags. In 1973, a fire destroyed the Sky Garden Bar and Restaurant and the offices used to manage the amusement park. In 1975, Holiday Hill closed, and the remaining rides were taken to the Fun Fair to bolster attractions.

In the late 1970s, additional fires ravaged the park, destroying a refreshment stand in 1976 and the dodgem car pavilion in 1977. On the following Labor Day, Thone closed the Fun Fair at Chain of Rocks Park for good.

On Labor Day 1977, Thone closed the Fun Fair at Chain of Rocks Park for good. In 1978, what was left of the park was auctioned off to a lackluster crowd; the Swooper sold for a discouraging 1,500 dollars, and scavengers carried away what was left after the auction concluded.

In 1980, 22 acres that once housed the Fun Fair at Chain of Rocks were listed for sale, but it seems that the property was never purchased. In 1995, the city of St. Louis proposed building a city casino but the project never came to fruition.