Silver Springs Nature Theme Park
Encyclopedia
Silver Springs, Florida
Silver Springs is a U.S. populated place and spring in Marion County, Florida, just to the east of the city of Ocala. It is part of the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, USA, east of Ocala. Although not truly a theme park, Silver Springs is a nature and zoological park occupying land owned by the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
as part of the Silver River State Park
Silver River State Park
Silver River State Park is a nearly 5,000 acre Florida State Park east of Ocala. Adjacent to Silver Springs and the Ocklawaha River, the park is a mile south of State Road 40 on State Road 35 .-Ecology:...
.
The property for the park was bought by the state of Florida as part of Silver River State Park and management of the parks was then leased to Palace Entertainment
Palace Entertainment
Palace Entertainment is an American amusement and entertainment company owned by Parques Reunidos. The company was established in 1998 after the acquisition of four independently owned family entertainment companies with the five brands Camelot Parks, Palace Park, Boomers!, Grand Prix Race-O-Rama...
, who was later purchased by Parques Reunidos
Parques Reunidos
Parques Reunidos is an international entertainment operator based in Madrid, Spain. The group operates over 50 parks in almost a dozen countries. Parques Reunidos operates theme and amusement parks, zoos, water parks, family entertainment centers, and cable cars...
.
History
Tourists began visiting Silver Springs several years after the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the 1870s, the invention at Silver Springs of the "glass bottom boat" gave visitors a spectacular and unique view of the springs. Silver Springs gained national attention through journals and guidebooks, and became a mandatory stop on the "grand tour" of Florida. Former President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
visited the area in 1880. Other Presidents to visit the Springs included Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
in the 1920s. Colonel Tooey, a concessionaire who operated the Jungle Cruise boat ride, established the first troop of wild rhesus monkeys in the 1930s on an island in the Silver River. Tooey established the colony to attract visitors to his ride. He did not realize the rhesus monkeys were excellent swimmers. They quickly escaped, forming feral troops along the river.
Ocalans W. C. Ray and W. M. "Shorty" Davidson, owners of the land around the headwaters from the 1920s to 1962 were responsible for much of the development at Silver Springs. In the 1930s, Ross Allen's
Ross Allen (herpetologist)
Ensil Ross Allen was an American herpetologist and writer. Born in Pennsylvania, Ross relocated to Florida with his family when he was a teenager. As a young man, Allen made a hobby of capturing turtles, snakes and other reptiles near his home in central Florida.Allen began the Reptile Institute...
Reptile Institute brought more notoriety to Silver Springs. Several movies and television shows were filmed at Silver Springs including Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
in the 1930s. The clarity of the water of the Silver River made it useful for filming underwater scenes for James Bond movies
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
, and episodes of the Six Million Dollar Man. There are over 20 movies and tv shows listed on IMDB as being filmed at Silver Springs.
The ownership of the theme park went through several private owners. During the 1980s, the distance of the theme park from interstates made it increasingly unprofitable. Faced with the possibility that the land would be developed as private real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
in the then booming Florida real estate market, the entire area around the Silver River was acquired by the state of Florida to become a state park. The state then leased the Silver Springs theme park back to a private manager, currently Palace Entertainment
Palace Entertainment
Palace Entertainment is an American amusement and entertainment company owned by Parques Reunidos. The company was established in 1998 after the acquisition of four independently owned family entertainment companies with the five brands Camelot Parks, Palace Park, Boomers!, Grand Prix Race-O-Rama...
.