Do You Remember This Once-Popular Mass Tourist Attraction?

If you were a kid growing up in the central Massachusetts area in the 90's, you know that Whalom Park in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, was the place to be. The place had an old-timey charm about it with hand-painted signs, cotton candy, and bumper cars.

It was compared a lot to Canobie Lake Park but it really had an atmosphere of it's own.

I didn't realize how long that park had been around before I got there. Before it closed in 2000, it was one of the oldest theme parks in America opening in 1896.

Here are some core memories I have from going to Whalom Park as a kid.

I experienced my first ever panic attack on that Ferris Wheel.

Good times! Let me paint the picture. I was on the Ferris wheel with my close family friends, Eliza and Shayna. Eliza was three years younger than me and Shayna was five years older. Shayna was WILD and used to always sneak up on Eliza and I and scare us or make fun of us because we had to wear headgear at night.

So the three of us are on the Ferris wheel and it stops to let other people on. Our pod happens to be stopped at the very top of the wheel. Something was happening with the ride and they needed to restart it so we were sitting up there for about 10 minutes which felt like an eternity because I am scared of heights.

Shayna was getting bored up there so she decided to create a little excitement. She started rocking our pod back and forth with all of her 12-year-old strength. Eliza and I are terrified and pleading her to stop. This just makes her cackle maniacally like the Wicked Witch of the West and rock our pod with even more speed and force. Finally the ride starts up again and Eliza and I scream at the ride attendant that we need to get off the ride. We run to our moms sobbing and Shayna got in big trouble. That was her last ride that day.

There was also a snafu with the tilt a whirl

Kids would get on all the time that were simply too small for this ride. The lap bar would come down but they would still have a lot of room. They would spend the whole ride hanging on for dear life while almost getting thrown off several times. I wouldn't be surprised to hear if some people got seriously hurt on that bad boy. Maybe there will be a documentary about it similar to the "Action Park" one on Netflix.

The Flyer Comet rollercoaster was their signature ride

That sucker was built in the 1940's and it had your classic wooden rollercoaster feel. It was rickety as sin but an absolute thrill.

Whalom Playhouse

The park had a famous summer stock theater that attracted well-known actors like Paul Newman and Bette Davis before they made it big!

The park sat on Whalom lake so it was the perfect place to watch fireworks and light shows in the Summer.

It was a sad day in 2000 when Whalom Park closed it's gate for good. And it was an even sadder day in the mid 2000's when the park was demolished and the land was redeveloped into an apartment complex (as most large pieces of land are)

Whalom Park will live on forever in many of hearts. It was a truly a Whale of a time.