Creation or The Great Hereafter
| Other Name(s) | The Hereafter |
|---|---|
| Type | Exhibition |
| Park Section | Unknown |
| Built | 1906 |
| Opened | 1906 |
| Closed | 1906 |
An "amusement device" called "Creation or The Great Hereafter"[1] that opened at Olentangy Park in 1906.[2][3][4]
The production opened at the nearby Columbus Zoological Garden in 1905 and was described as having "many novel features in illusion, magic, and black art."[1] It was described as being similar to the one produced at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, and had "great scenic and mechanical effects and [carried] a company of 50 people."[3]
The original "Creation" ride was created and built by Henry Roltair for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. That version was a three-hour dark ride featuring a combination of a boat ride and walking tour that "showed panoramas of the natural world and various illusions before leading them into a great central dome that had panoramic views of a representation of the six days of creation." William Reynolds bought the ride and installed a sped-up, improved version that famously featured a 24-foot white plaster statue of a bare-breasted woman at Dreamland at Coney Island, New York.[5]
Similarly named attractions at Athletic Park[6] depicted Heaven and Hell, and also at Dreamland, was an electric opera that showed the destruction of the world by fire, and "the Biblical epic, using a chorus of 200 singers, showed the Damnation of Faust and the Salvation of Marguerite in detail."[7] Similar attractions at other parks were towering three to five stories high. However, Olentangy Park's version was likely one to two stories with an elaborate front entrance.
It most likely only operated for one season.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Opening of Zoo." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. May 7, 1905. Page 6.
- ↑ "Olentangy Park Opens on April 29." Columbus Evening Dispatch. April 15, 1906. Page 7.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Columbus Zoo." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. May 21, 1905. Page 7.
- ↑ "The Opening of Olentangy Park." The Marion Star (Marion, Ohio). April 28, 1906. Page 10. Accessed through Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Wilk, Stephen R. Lost Wonderland: The Brief and Brilliant Life of Boston’s Million Dollar Amusement Park. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020. The book mispells his name as Roltaire.
- ↑ Stanton, Jeffrey. "Athletic Park, Luna Park, Carnival Court Park - Buffalo N.Y. 1904 - 1918." National Amusement Park Historical Association. Accessed on July 29, 2022.
- ↑ Stanton, Jeffrey. "Coney Island - Dreamland." Westland Network. Last modified April 6, 1998. Accessed on July 26, 2022.