Electric Park was an amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

 in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 that was in operation from 1906 to 1928. Owned by Arthur Gaulker and his family, the park was also known by Riverview Park, Luna Park, and Granada Park in its 22-year existence, with several unofficial nicknames like "Pike's Peak", "Riverside", and "Granada". The park was sited on East Jefferson Drive adjacent to the approach to the bridge to Belle Isle

Belle Isle Park

Belle Isle is a island park in the Detroit River, between the United States mainland and Canada, managed by the Detroit Recreation Department. It is connected to the rest of Detroit, Michigan by the MacArthur Bridge...

.

Trolley park

Electric Park was originally a trolley park

Trolley park

In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. These trolley parks were created by the streetcar companies to give people a...

 at the end of three streetcar lines (the Myrtle, Fort-East, and the Crosstown); public transportation to Electric Park to nearby Belle Isle gradually shifted toward the use of bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es, even after the completion of new streetcar tracks after the construction of a new MacArthur Bridge in the early 1920s (the new tracks were never used). The park's main entrance was dominated by a large windmill

Windmill

A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...

 across the street from the entrance to the park's boardwalk, which had a sign stating: "The Boardwalk: Just for Fun."

Rides and attractions

Rides and attractions in the densely-packed Electric Park include a roller coaster

Roller coaster

The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...

 (one was called the Derby Racer; another featured a sign that said "Trip Thru the Clouds - Detroit's Greatest Ride"; others that appeared in the park were the Big Dipper, the Bobs, and the Dare Devil), Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel

A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...

, an interactive simulation of the Johnstown Flood

Johnstown Flood

The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889. It was the result of the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam situated upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall...

, a Shoot-the-Chutes

Shoot-the-Chutes

Shoot-the-Chutes is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume, a Shoot-the-Chutes generally has larger boats and one single drop....

 around which the rest of the park is configured, a Whip ride

The Whip (ride)

The Whip was a ride originally designed and built by W.F. Mangels Company of Coney Island, New York, USA. William F. Mangels patented the ride in 1914 and it soon became an extremely popular ride....

, aerial swings, various other mechanical rides, live entertainment (including acrobat

Acrobatics

Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...

s and aerialist

Aerialist

An aerialist is an acrobat who performs in the air, on a suspended apparatus such as a trapeze, rope, cloud swing, aerial cradle, aerial silk or aerial hoop....

s) performing in front of a bank of bleacher seats that dominated one side of the park), a riverfront

Riverfront

A riverfront is a region along a river; often in larger cities that border a river, the riverfront will be lined with marinas, docks, parks, trees, or minor attractions. Today many riverfronts are a staple of modernism and city beautification....

 pier

Pier

A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...

, a coliseum, picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

 facilities, and the Palais de Danse ballroom

Ballroom

A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...

 built (in 1912) over the edge of the water of the Detroit River

Detroit River

The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...

. Another dance hall

Dance hall

Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub...

, Palace Gardens, was destroyed in a May 1911 blaze; the Coliseum and the pier and boardwalk

Boardwalk

A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....

 (site of the park's concession stands) burned down ten years later. Before the fire, the Pier Ballroom and the Ramona were popular places for dancing; afterwards, the nearby Merry Gardens Ballroom kept drawing crowds even after the demise of the park.

Legal battles

The 1920s saw a series of legal battles challenging the ownership of the park and challenging the existence of the park. In 1927 the legal contests came to an end as the City of Detroit condemned many of the park's structures as a blight (contemporary accounts called the buildings "eyesores"), and Electric Park closed permanently. The following year, the buildings were leveled to create a new public park, which eventually became Gabriel Richard Park.