List of Injuries and Deaths

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Below is a list of reported injuries and deaths at the park.

Date Ride, Attraction, or Event Victims Notes
Sept. 17, 1899 Bowling alley Felix A. Lane Bowler hit the pins hard enough to make a pin fly into the audience, hitting Lane in the mouth and knocking out a tooth.[1]
June 30, 1901 Water Toboggan Frank E. Grove
Frank Roddy
Injured when the ride broke in two about halfway down. Grove's right foot was caught in the rollers, and three of his toes were broken, his leg was wrenched, and the right side of his body was bruised. Roddy was thrown from the ride and received painful bruises.[2]
June 18, 1902 Picnic Grounds Myrtle Comer, 8 Fell 40 feet down the bank of the Olentangy River and broke her jaw[3]
July 12, 1902 Merry-Go-Round (1) Mrs. John Hindmarch, 57 Fell from the ride while at the park with her two granddaughters. She fell while checking on her granddaughter, her head landing on a rock. She later died from her injuries.[4][5]
Aug. 18, 1902 Figure Eight Toboggan Unnamed Person Fainted[6]
Sept. 21, 1902 Figure Eight Toboggan Albert Jenkins Received several broken ribs and a broken leg on the ride[7]
March 21, 1904 Zoo Peter Duffy Attendant at the zoo was attacked by a Himalayan bear while feeding the animals raw meat. The bear caused lacerations all over Duffy's body. Other attendants saved Duffy, who survived.[8]
May 31, 1904 Zoo James Emmett
Emmett's friend
Animal tamer attempted to show his friend a lion's paws and was dragged further into the cage. Emmett's friend used his walking cane to beat the lion back and Emmett received lacerations to his arm. During the incident, park-goers ran, some fainted, and a rumor spread that the cage had broken.[9]
June 9, 1904 Unknown location Charles Mayers Knocked from a tree while coming into contact with a live wire while working at the park in June.[10]
July 6, 1905 Merry-Go-Round (1) Eral Roach Became dizzy while riding the merry-go-round and fell from a horse. He was badly shaken and bruised but recovered.[11]
May 18, 1906 Figure Eight Toboggan Thomas Callis Spooked by the flashing lights, he accidentally stepped off a nearby platform and injured his right ankle badly enough that amputation was considered[12]
May 30, 1907 Circle Swing Amy Wright, 22 Found unconscious while riding the circle swing. She fully recovered at her home.[13].
June 18, 1907 Zoo Tom Dean Animal keeper discussed with President Theodore Roosevelt whether a caged wolf in the Zoo would attack a human being. Believing it would not, Dean taunted the wolf, and it attacked him.[14]
July 2, 1907 Zoo Harry Myers Zoo keeper fell from a ladder inside a tiger's cage and was attacked by the largest one. The animal scratched his right hand and had to be tamed later with blank shots from a revolver.[15] This led the tiger to attack and tear off his left arm, crushing his left hand. The doctors had to remove it.[16]
Aug. 4, 1907 Cromwell Dixon's Sky Cycle Event Ralph McLaughlin Lost consciousness while generating hydrogen gas for the sky-cycle gas bag. Hydrogen gas was created by combining iron filings with sulphuric acid, and strong fumes overtook McLaughlin. He was moved to a more ventilated space and recovered fully several hours later.[17]
Aug. 5, 1907 Zoo Bert McCarty Came close to losing one of his fingers when feeding a bear.[18]
July 1908 Loop-the-Loop Luther Liggett Suffered neck injuries that led to over a week of a swollen neck with fears of a serious injury.[19]
July 16, 1908 Theater Fay Courtney Fell down stairs, suffering a black eye and facial cuts, but returned to perform by the following night[20]
July 17, 1909 Ocean Wave Earl Sands, 14 Suffered a badly crushed leg after his leg became caught beneath the platform. It took three stitches to close a gash in the leg below the knee.[21]
May 24, 1910 Ocean Wave James Higgins [or Wiggins], 13
Forest Huston
Possibly many more
During the North Side Chamber of Commerce outing in May 1910, the Ocean Wave collapsed from the weight of a hundred children. Higgins suffered from four broken ribs. Huston suffered an amputation of his right thumb.[22]
July 16, 1911 Ye Olde Mill (1) J. Andrews, 87
Earnest Parsons, 19
Possibly seven more people
Fire broke out in the ride building. They panicked and jumped from the second floor, landing on the steps below, which were already burning. Andrews could walk home after treatment, but Parsons's injuries were worse. Although rumors were spread that several people were injured and died, manager Dusenbury and the fire department believed that there were only injuries, and no one died.[23] However, some other publications reported that seven people were injured and at least 1,000 people fled in panic.[24]
1912 Electric Autos Mamie L. Tschopp Had both bones in her right limb just above the ankle broken when the car on the Electric Auto ride went off the track and flipped over. She was riding with a Miss Linville and Nora McNeil.[25]
June 19, 1912 Merry-Go-Round (2) or
Merry-Go-Round (3)
Mrs. Harry Funk Received a scalp wound[26]
October 6, 1912 Restaurant Rebecca Hughes, 65 Fell down two steps at the park restaurant and broke her left hip and wrist[27]
June 18, 1913 Entrance James Carnahan, 49 Fell unconscious due to heat stroke. Four deaths were reported in the same week in the city, caused by excessive heat.[28]
June 1, 1913 Theater Herbert Schill, 14 Fell through a trapdoor on the bridge at the theater while helping his father, Gustav Schill, paint scenery. He fell 22 feet, resulting in a fractured left leg and severe cuts on his left hand.[29]
June 18, 1913 Dancing Pavilion (2) Helen Harding, 28 or 19 Suffered a paralytic stroke. Her left arm and mouth were paralyzed, and she fell to the floor, unable to speak.[30] She recovered her ability to speak about six weeks later.[31]
July 9, 1913 Boathouse Gertrude Klemm, 15 Drowned after the canoe she was in capsized about a half mile north of the park on the Olentangy River.[32]
Sept. 5, 1914 Shoot-the-Chutes Joseph Valkno, 17 Hit by a boat on the chute while working on the ride. Valkno broke his leg while trying to leap over the boat as it was diving into the pond.[33]
1917 Swimming Pool E. W. Thomas, 32
J. H. Mink, 35
Injured by a steel beam from a cement conveyor during construction. Thomas sustained scalp wounds and injuries to his right shoulder and back, and Mink sustained a broken left shoulder and numerous bruises.[34]
July 5, 1919 Swimming Pool Dora Young Sustained a broken arm in a fall.[35]
Aug. 3, 1934 Ballroom (Outdoor)
Dancing Pavilion (2)
Robert G. Butler Park employee fell 6 feet from a passageway between the Dancing Pavilion and the Outdoor Ballroom when it collapsed during a style show. His left arm was fractured and became paralyzed.[36]

References

  1. "Pin Struck Him." Columbus Evening Dispatch. Sept. 18, 1899. Page 5.
  2. "Hurt on Toboggan: Bunch of Accidents at Olentangy Park—Fine Ambulance Run." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 1, 1901. Page 10.
  3. "Broke Her Jaw." Thursday Columbus Dispatch. June 18, 1903. Page 8.
  4. Sunday Columbus Dispatch. July 13, 1902. Page 8.
  5. "A Fatal Ride." Monday Columbus Dispatch. July 14, 1902. Page 8.
  6. "Brevities." Columbus Evening Dispatch. Aug. 18, 1902. Page 8.
  7. "Jenkins Leaves Hospital." Thursday Columbus Dispatch. Oct. 30, 1902. Page 6.
  8. "Peter Duffy has Narrow Escape from Angry Bear at the Olentangy Zoo." Columbus Evening Dispatch. March 22, 1904. Page 1.
  9. "Ferocious Young Lion Claws Hand of Tamer at Zoo." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 7, 1904. Page 1.
  10. "Knocked From a Tree By a Live Wire." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 10, 1904. Page 13.
  11. "Little Children of the Poor Have Day of Pleasure." The Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 6, 1905. Page 1.
  12. "Peculiar Accident." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. May 20, 1906. Page 6.
  13. "Young Woman is Made Unconscious by Circle Swing." Columbus Evening Dispatch. May 31, 1907. Page 2.
  14. "Wolf Sides with Long." The Boston Globe. June 18, 1907. Page 4.
  15. "Tiger Attacks Trainer in Cage." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 3, 1907. Page 7.
  16. "Trainer at Olentangy Park is in a Very Serious Condition." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 4, 1907. Page 2.
  17. "Is Overcome By Hydrogen Fumes." Columbus Evening Dispatch. Aug. 5, 1907. Page 2.
  18. "One Hundred Years Ago - August 10, 1907." Marysville Journal-Tribune (Marysville, Ohio). Aug. 10, 2007. Page 4. Accessed through Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/article/marysville-journal-tribune-one-hundred-y/176655572/
  19. "Neck was Injured." The Union County Journal (Marysville, Ohio). July 23, 1908. Page 2. Accessed through Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80090314/neck-was-injured-on-loop-the-loop-in/
  20. "Popular Actress Fay Courtney is Hurt by a Plunge Down a Stairway in the Darkness." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 17, 1908. Page 1.
  21. "Boy Injured at Buckeye Outing." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 19, 1909. Page 2.
  22. "Mechanical Swing Collapses with Hundred Children." Columbus Evening Dispatch. May 25, 1910. Page 8.
  23. "Suspect Arson in Destructive Fire at Olentangy Park." The Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 17, 1911. Page 1.
  24. "Fire Causes Panic." Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California). July 17, 1911. Page 5. Accessed through Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/oakland-tribune-1911-07-17/page/n3/mode/2up?q=%22Olentangy+Park%22
  25. "Thirty Years Ago." Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio). July 24, 1942. Page 6. Accessed through Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-eagle-gazette-thirty-years-ago/176717399/
  26. "Thrown from Merry-Go-Round." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 20, 1912. Page 5.
  27. "Breaks Hip and Wrist." Columbus Evening Dispatch. Oct. 7, 1912. Page 1.
  28. "Heat Has Caused Deaths of Four Columbus People." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 19, 1913. Page 1.
  29. "Fell Through Trap." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 2, 1913. Page 5.
  30. "Stricken at Dance." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 19, 1913. Page 8.
  31. "Again Able to Speak." Columbus Evening Dispatch. Aug. 23, 1913. Page 3.
  32. "Little Girl is Drowned When Canoe is Upset." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 10, 1913. Page 1.
  33. "Park Employe Injured." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. Sept. 6, 1914. Page 3.
  34. "Workmen are Injured." The Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 8, 1917. Page 3.
  35. "Sustains Broken Arm." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. July 6, 1919. Page 6.
  36. "Damages of $40,000 Are Sought in Suit." The Columbus Dispatch. Dec. 22, 1934. Page 10.