Thanks to Ron Law for this picture of

Bayside Amusement Park

The original photograph

(same as the one above)

Bayside Amusement Park

painting sent in by

Jerry Millard- CLHS 1956

Bayside Amusement Park opened in 1940 and closed in 1958.

The designer was

Herbert P. Schmeck.

If you have any pictures or stories of Bayside...

please email them for us all to enjoy!!

* Remember to hold down ctrl and F5 on your keyboard to see any additions*.

Music is

'Summer Nights'

From

Grease

The roller coaster at

the Bayside Amusement

Park was a victim of the

August 27, 1931 tornado.

(It was obviously rebuilt).

Reference=

'Clear Lake, Iowa

1851-2006'

The Red Book

Page 51

The half mile

roller coaster ride

at the

Bayside Amusement Park

in the 1950s.

This aerial view shows Woodford Island, located about 250 feet off the south shore.

The 2.9 acre island was donated to the state in 1971 by

Mrs. Woodford Ashland

of Clear Lake.

Little Train was a popular ride for youngsters visiting the Bayside Amusement Park in the 1920s. (Also see below)

From Bill Whelan (1957), who it looks like will miss the event unless the earth stops spinning.

My most remembered 50 seconds of Bayside Park was when the World Famous "Jerry O'Neill" and I went on a spinning chair ride.... right after he had eaten about 6 cheese dogs.... he threw all 6 of them for 30 - 40 feet off the ride onto what and who ever was there. He turned white... then blue... then green... and then the ride stopped. There is a God!!!!

Never got a drop on me cause I was on the inside chair. And this is all the truth... so Help Me NASCAR!!!

Your aging friend... Bill (Thank you Bill!)

The Island off of what was once

Bayside Amusement Park.

The Island

at Bayside

Thanks to Bob Moninger

An article in the Mirror and Reporter

on January 23, 2008 says...

"Bayside's new roller coaster opens for business in 1942"

By Pinsker H. Nohj

Clear Lake Mirror- April 23, 1942

A new roller coaster and improvements amounting to $33,500 have been announced by Jack Shea, operator of Bayside Amusement Park, across the lake from the city. The half-mile long roller coaster is the greatest addition to the park's recreational facilities in recent years.

With the final touches on Bayside's new roller coaster being made, it is expected to be operating a week from Sunday, according to Mr. Shea. Work on the project was begun shortly after the first of the year and seven carloads of lumber have gone into its constructuction as well as 8,500 bolts and 38 kegs of nails.

William Marquet, Philadelphia Toboggan Co. engineer planned and supervised the work on the new roller coaster. Every effort has been made to make it safe and of the latest design. The actual cost of the coaster is $30,000.

There will be two trains of three cars each, with each car holding four passengers. A 40 horse power motor will furnish the momentum as the cars wind and dive over the man-made hills and then dash into the valleys.

New Ride

Another new ride has also been added to the park known as the bumper ride. A new building has been erected next to the roller rink. The cars run with electric trolleys and zig-zag all over the floor bumping each other. This ride will be in operation Sunday and was erected at the cost of $3,500.

The Bayside dock will be operated this year by Bill Witke. He will operate his line of speedboats between Bayside and Witke's Beach, according to plans.

These fascinating stories can be found at the History Room at the Clear Lake Public Library."

Ray used to live in a cottage near the island and remembers when some of us had a Pie Party on the island one night. Everyone brought a pie and a knife - no plates, forks - that sissy stuff. We shared slices, got messy and washed our hands and faces in the lake. Ah, those were the good times.

Pat Fluharty Bucheister (CLHS 1959)

I recall rowing across the lake to the Island many times. On one occasion when the lake level was low, you could walk from the point to the island about waist deep. As I recall the deepest part of the lake was just off the island? Am looking forward to visiting the site in September at the CLHS59 reunion. Is Shady Beach still open? Ken Tyner (CLHS 1959)

Having grown up in Clear Lake I loved Bayside and especially the Roller Rink. If memory serves me, I think we even got to have a class picnic over there in the middle 1950s. Gary and I lived in the Bayside area from 1962 to 1971. By the time we left they had already built homes where the amusement park had been. Someone even began an area up the road with the homes supposedly nicer, but not many were sold--haven't been out there in a few years so that may have changed. The Ritz of course is gone and is now a small park. As to Shady Beach, it is now part of the Heartland Motel which is across the lake access from it. We stayed there when my mother passed away (Sept 2006) and it was very nice. Our room had a nice jacuzzi in the bathroom and a small patio on the front side where we could sit and watch the lake. I remember actually walking across to the island and the lake was so low our feet hardly got wet. Mary Rogers Marshall (CLHS 1961)

Memories and More Memories

Great articles, comments and pictures. I still have a scar on the back of my head from riding on the merry-go-round in the Spinning Tub with a bunch of friends, laughing so hard that I threw back my head and hit a carousel horse. Split my head open and they had to rush me to the doctor's office for Dr. Clapsaddle to stitch up. I'm not going bald yet, but have a bare spot where the scar is. Loved the roller coaster and spent many hours roller skating at the rink until they built the new one at Silver Boot. Linda Hintzman Counsel (CLHS 1960)

About the only thing I remember about Bayside was my dad taking me on the roller coaster. I was probably 5 - maybe? Anyway I thought when we went down that first hill I was going to fly right out of that thing. I think I've only ridden 1 roller coaster since and that was the kind where the thing comes over your head and sorta locks you in the seat! Glenys Merwin Schloemer (CLHS 1963).

Last Updated

15 March, 2009

Page Created

7 February, 2008

Thanks to Dee Mosher for the above story of the Island.

This is a photo of the little train from Clear Lake . The train was built by Elmer Thornton of Des Moines Iowa. He built about 10 trains from 1920 till 1959 when he died. Elmer ran the trains at Riverview Park in Des Moines and his son ran the train at the Duluth MN Zoo. The photo was taken July 21st 1940. The engineer (dwarf) was "Shorty" Stanley Hicks who later operated the trains in Des Moines.

(Continued below)

(Continued from above)-

I collect amusement park trains and their images If you have any idea where the little train is today or if you run into any other images please keep me in mind. Thank you Carey Williams wasp3245@aol.com

I remember going to Bayside and riding the roller coaster and thinking how much fun and exciting it was. Then on the week-ends going to the roller rink and skating with everybody. I remember how we would skate and skate to the music, holding hands, playing crack the whip, skating backwards, thinking how neat that was and not falling down or crashing into the wall. I also remember one "Special Friday Night" when Judy Grell and I were skating and some of the Mason City boys( guys) came over and started to skate and asked some of the Clear Lake girls to skate with them. One really cute blonde hair guy asked Judy to skate. That was the first night she met her Love. As it was Tenny Gordon and we all know the rest of the story. I remember we were all teasing Judy about that Mason City guy and how much he liked her. Guess we had that right!!! Remember Judy???

Ginny(Collins)Raible CLHS 1963