Lakeside Amusement Park, Demolished Since the 1930s: Flint

Not too much seems to have been written about this old amusement park in Flint: the Lakeside Amusement Park, also known as the Thread Lake Park, located at 3001 Collingwood Parkway.

According to Water Winter Wonderland, back in the late 1800s the park was known as Pier's Grove. In the early 1900s the park was called Lakeside. Also known as Thread Lake Amusement Park, the grounds featured a giant roller coaster that jutted partly out over the lake, seaplane rides, and other amusements.

The Facebook page for Crystal Township Historical Society says in 1916, a new carousel for the park was built by the Herschell-Spillman Company in North Tonawanda, New York. The carousel was bought in 1917 by Dr. John D. Stuart and “put into operation at his Lakeside Park on Thread Lake in Flint”. Thanks to The Great Depression, which brought lack of customers, lack of admissions, and lack of interest, the park closed for good in 1935.

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Deserted for a year, the park was bought by the City of Flint in 1936. Now that the park was closed, Doc Stuart took back possession of his carousel and moved it to a new park at Crystal Lake.

After the park was purchased by the city, they immediately went about destroying all the rides, concessions, and midway amusements, leaving nothing left by the 2000s except for the baseball diamond.

In 1942 part of the old park was named McKinley Park after a past mayor, George McKinley.

Today there are scant reminders spread out through the old park grounds, which are fun to scour for.....take your camera or phone when you go! In the meantime, check out the gallery below for a look at how the park appeared over one hundred years ago...