Lincoln Park Dartmouth, MA (Boston, New Bedford: for sale, real estate market, 2009)

[NarragansettPark]

Even though it has been closed for 21 years, Lincoln Park in N. Dartmouth is still a very memorable place to many people from all over New England.

Not much remains of the park, other than the Roller coaster, which unfortunately has seen better days, and a few buildings falling down and hidden in the trees and brush.

I've started working on a website dedicated to Lincoln Park and I'm looking for your stories, memories and especially photos. May they be photos of you and your loved ones at Lincoln Park, of the park itself or of tickets or goodies won there.

Thanks!

Corrie~

LINCOLN PARK--N. Dartmouth, MA

And as you might noticed I am some what of a sucker for old local places with a good amount of history. I really enjoy trying to preserve the memories of these places.

[crazyworld]

Hi Narraganset.........................Year after year we went to Lincoln Park always on my birthday. It was always a special day.
The last time I was there was in 1981 and that was the day I realized I was pregnant with my son...when I got off the Tilt-s-Whirl....OMG

I am sure you have heard of the show Chronicle based out of Boston. I know that they did a piece on it when they did a show on old amusement parks( ast least a couple of years ago). Maybe they can help you also.
I do not believe I have any pictures at all. Thanks for bringing up a great memory for me.

Good Luck. What a fun thing to do.

[NarragansettPark]

Hi crazyworld,

Thanks for sharing your memories. Your son is not much older than me. I was only 2 in 1981.

I actually haven't heard of the show Chronicle. I wish I'd been able to see that special.

Corrie~

[crazyworld]

You may be able to get a copy. WCVB Channel 5 Boston.
If you contact them, you may be able to get a copy. Contact Mary Richardson or Anthony Everett.
Hope that helps.
Chronicle is on every week night at 7:30.

[NarragansettPark]

Thank you!

[crazyworld]

You are very welcome.

[NarragansettPark]

I keep looking at LP on my way to work everyday wondering if there were a way to raise money and buy the land to make it a recreational park.

Any interest out there for such a project?

[lrfox]

As I'm sure you know, Lincoln Park is the home of a proposed Retail, Office, and Residential development called the "Village at Lincoln Park" ( Welcom to The Village at Lincoln Park ).

Little has happened with the project recently (most likely due to the troubled economy), and there have been rumblings that the developer (Midway Realty LLC) is looking to dump the land. Given the state of the economy, slumping real estate costs, etc, NOW is probably the time to jump in and buy up the land if you want to see it saved (or renovated and reopened?... it may have more of a chance with past nearby competitors biting the dust ala Rocky Point and the commercialization of Canobie Lake and Six Flags).

If this site remains vacant, it will only be for a short while. The economy will rebount as will the housing and real estate markets and with the Commuter Rail coming into Fall River and New Bedford, the value of this location will never be lower than it is right now.

[NarragansettPark]

Well I noticed on the Dartmouth Beat Blog on the SOuth Coast Today website that people are talking about the land being for sale because the economy is so bad. The realtors who own it didn't deny it and they are quoted as saying everything is for sale.

I don't think Lincoln Park will ever be an amusement park again, (maybe with the exception of fixing the comet, though that is alot of work) but I think it would make nice open land for walking, biking, kite flying, picnics beneath the pine trees. Craft fairs, farmers market. Use the land for the people while benefiting the community as well.

I've started to do some research on conservation. The application time has passed for 2009. They also require a good deal of quotes for the project and I barely know where to start.

Is anyone interested in forming a committee to work out fundraising or even more interest?

It has sat for 21 years. I'd love to see something done other than more houses and businesses.

[MargoKey]

I might be one of the seasoned (older) posters to this topic, because I was born in 1962. I have long since moved away from MA, but each time I have the chance while visiting, I drive by Lincoln Park.

My mother has some wonderful memories and stories about going there to dance, and how everyone would smoke outside the dance hall.

One of my fondest memories is a time going with my dad, my brother, his girlfriend at the time, and my two best friends (it was a crowded car). My dad was determined to win me a GIANT stuffed animal. So, after a few attempts, he played my and my mother's middle name (which is the same, and not very common) and he won! Thus began Geraldine's future. She was a very large, lime green . . . bear sort of thing. She was huge, even though she was sitting on her hind legs.

My best friends were so envious of Geraldine, that my father decided he would try to win another one. So, playing the same name, he won again. This time it was a standing Winnie-the-Pooh. If Geraldine had been standing, they would have been the same size. Imagine the car ride home -- six people (albeit three small girls) and two oversized stuffed animals that, as I mentioned earlier, when standing were over 4.5 feet tall each. Winnie may have been taller.

I had Geraldine well into my teens and, one day in 1981 or so, I had to get rid of her because she developed -- wait for it -- moths. It was a sad day carrying her to the curb the morning of trash day.

I would look out the window and check on her and, the next thing I knew, she was gone!!! Before the trash pick up!! Someone had come by and picked her up. I was so upset that someone would do that, that I delighted in the fact that she had moths.

There you go . . .