NextStop Blog
April 13, 2018
Flashback Friday
Return to BlogToday’s photo was taken outside of St. Louis’ late great amusement park Forest Park Highlands in 1945. The Old Barn is in the background. The scene is just a stone’s throw from next weekend’s Earth Day festival at the Muny in Forest Park.
The park began in 1896 as a merry-go-round meant to attract customers to the Highlands Cottage restaurant. It expanded over the years and consistently attracted huge crowds until July 19, 1963 when a massive, buzz-killing fire destroyed the park.
Amazingly, the original carousel survived and currently resides out in Faust Park. Taking a ride on this carousel continues to be a rite of passage for St. Louis youngsters.
Have a great weekend!
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Tremendous picture of a totally different time. This is probably a school group arriving at the Highlands for the annual school picnic. Each grade school had a picnic day in the spring of the year, and went to the Highlands on chartered streetcars (notice “SPECIAL” under the 2car train sign). Attendees were on their own for the return trip, providing fares for the Public Service Co