By Sharon Oliver, Contributing Writer
LUNENBURG – It may not have grown into a theme park empire like Disney or branched into 27 parks across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico like Six Flags, but Lunenburg’s Whalom Park did have its fair share of family-friendly attractions and fans. In 1982, Boston’s own new wave band, The Cars, filmed their music video for the song “Touch and Go” at Whalom Park. There were also two versions of a catchy jingle for the park’s TV commercial, which promised “a whale of a time.”
Evolution over more than a century
Established in 1893 by the Fitchburg & Leominster Street Railway, Whalom Park was designed to be an English-style park of gardens and walking paths. By the time of its last day of operations in 2000, the park had earned the status of being the nation’s 13th oldest amusement park.
During its 107 years of operation, Whalom had morphed from a replica of an English garden into a fun-filled getaway for families and friends. Whalom Park was also initially built to be a trolley park, providing access by streetcar for nearby city residents and tourists. The goal of the streetcar company was to provide a destination that would encourage people to ride the trolley on weekends. Inspired by European amusement parks like Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York is probably the best-known trolley park in the U.S. To date, there are only 13 of the original 1,500 trolley parks still operating in the U.S. The growing expansion of travel by automobile in the early 20th century and the Great Depression spelled the end for many U.S. trolley parks.
Visitors recall childhood trips
“I really would love to bring all those fabulous fun exciting family memories of Whalom Park to life again,” said Ruby Chavis in the comments section of a blog post about Whalom on WorldAbandoned.com. “We would visit every chance we could. I am one of 10 children, and my five cousins lived with us. We’d go from Worcester for a nice ride. My dad used to save match books and stamps from gas stations to make it affordable.”
“My experience with Whalom Park goes way back to the ‘40s,” added Bonnie Jean Cousineau. “The merry-go-round, the Whip and the little fire trucks were favorites, and I would have loved to go on the roller coaster but I was too small. We lived in Holyoke but visited Lancaster often because my grandparents lived there and would take me to Whalom every summer.”
“Whalom is one of my fondest memories of growing up in Gardner, just down the road from the park,” John Rosinski recalled. “I would beg and cry until my Dad would take me there, usually filling up the ’57 Chevy station wagon with neighborhood kids and seemingly enjoying it along with us.”
A variety of attractions
The old wooden roller coaster Flyer Comet was one of Whalom’s best-known rides but who could also forget the Looper, Octopus, Paratrooper, Sea Dragon, Satellite Jets or Barnaby, the Walking Talking Puppet who gave shows to guests around the park? The Whalom Park Center Stage outdoor theater was another popular attraction, and featured stars like Mickey Rooney, Shelley Winters, Harry Morgan and The Howdy Doody Show with Buffalo Bob Smith. Visitors could satisfy their empty tummies at the Whalom Park Café after a day’s exertion at Mini Golf Land or the waterpark. Kiddieland offered younger children their own space for age-appropriate rides and a small theater featuring puppet shows.
Preserving the park’s history
On July 14, 2023, Boston’s local CBS News announced a return of the Whalom Park experience that included a small pop-up amusement park at Doyle Field in Leominster in partnership with Manuel Amusements. Furthermore, New Whalom Cooperative is dedicated to preserving the history of the park with a traveling museum “and returning Whalom-inspired entertainment to North Central Mass.”
The organization has an online store, curates memorabilia for its museum, collects photos and videos from Whalom Park fans and has a mailing list for people to join. The organization believes a return of the park could have a significant impact on the local area, particularly economically. So stay tuned to see if other developments will be in the works.
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