BoxRec

Perhaps one of you guys in Chi Town remembers and can help me out,but whenever my family went to my grandmother's house on the Southwest Side my aunt would always ask us kids what we wanted to do and we'd always say we wanted to go to Riverview.

There was no Disneyland in those days and to us kids going to Riverview amusement park was the thrill of a lifetime. I can't remember where it was cause I was only 10,but I don't think it was near the Italian neighborhood. That's why if some of you Windy City guys can clear the air and tell me where it was so I can get my bearings.

Anyway it was me,my cousin Frankie and his little brother Joey and my two sisters piling into my aunt's 88 blue Hudson Hornet. I remember you didn't start it with a key,but pushed a button. My aunt weighs about 300pounds ands got peroxide blonde hair. Since I'm the oldest I'm in the front with her and the rest of the kids are in the back.

My aunt buys us tickets and the first thing my cousin Frankie and Joey want to do is go on this big roller coaster called the"Bobs" I went on it once and got sick ,so I don't like any of those rides that go fast and go up and down. My sisters are scared so I stay with them while Frankie and Joey and my Aunt Jeanette go on the roller coaster.

After the roller coaster my cousins want to go on another one of them fast curvy rides called "Chute the Chutes". I tell them let's do it later cause they're having all the fun and me and my sisters are just watchin' So my cousin Frankie says "You want to see this crazy guy?' He says this ex pug runs the Ring Toss game and he must have got punched too many times in the head cause he's kind of screwy.

Me and everybody follow Frankie down the Midway till we get to the expug and his Ring Toss game. I ask my cousin what the guy's name is and he don't know,but everyone calls him Willie Lump Lump cause he's got this big knot in the middle of his forehead. Frankie says the ex pug got punched too many times in the head. Well I don't know about that,but this is the first time I see a guy with a cauliflower ear. His ear is small and shiny smoothe like its attached flat against the side of his head. Its got no ear lobes,just a tiny hole in the middle that he hears with. Yeah he must have got punched a lot in the head.

Well my cousin Frankie steps up to this guy and looks over his shoulder at us and winks. I say to myself"What is he goin' to pull now?" My cousin clears his throat and asks in this phony serious voice"Sir,can you explain what this game is all about?"

The ex pug may have shown results of being punched in the face too much,but he answers in the smoothest politest voice I ever heard. "Why gentlemen this is the Ring Toss game."

My cousin goes on. "Sir,how do you play this game?"
The ex pug picks up a wooden ring and says"Well you toss this ring and see if you can get it to land on one of the prizes" The old guy then shows how the ring can fit around a prize:a goldfish bowl with this little gold fish in it.

My cousin Frankie clears his throat again."Sir,I don't believe that's possible. I think you're trying to fool us." Well just like that the old man comes around the the table fast with this hammer in his hand. He's not talking polite anymore. "So that's what it is" he says"I'll fix you punk kids. I'll get all of you" Me and my sisters and Frankie and Joey start running and yelling down the Midway and I don't know if I'm scared or excited or both. My little cousin Joey's behind us cause he's was born with flat feet and don't run too fast. The ex pug catches up with him and grabs him from behind. We're all afraid the old guy is going to hit him with the hammer and now we're all are trying to get Joey away from him screaming at the the guy to leave him alone.

Just then this blur slams into the melee. It's my aunt Jeanette. It was like a bowling ball hitting the pocket and everybody goes flying in all directions. My aunt is on top of the guy,but you can't see him because she's so big. She's smashing his face into the pavement holding the hair on the back of the old man's head."Leave those kids alone you f-----g bastard" she's screaming. She was wearing this green dress and the back of it is over her big rear end and you can see all the folds of fat on her legs and she's got on these nylons that only go up to her knees.

By the time twelve security guys got her off the ex pug,he was bleeding and I could see the damage inflicted by my aunt. She didn't help out his looks any. "F--k you you little prick"she still's screaming at him as we're being escorted to the parking lot.

Well we're all quiet sitting in the back seat of the Hudson including myself. My aunt scared me a lot more than the ex pug."This is the last time I'm taking you little pricks anywhere" she's screaming at us in the rear view mirror. She's sweating and heaving so much her mascara had run down her face,but I aint laughin'

We get back and me and my cousin Frankie and Joey are sitting on the stoop. My sisters went inside. They'd had enough. "Now what?' I ask my cousin Frankie. He clears his throat. "We can always go across the street and knock on old lady Manicotti's door and call her a fat cow"

By the way,any of you guys in Chicago remember where Riverview was?

I'll write more when I get back from mass, but Riverview was located West of Western and East of the River from Belmont 3200 N to about 3500 N. The CPD have a station on the site where Aladdin's Castle was, so they sometimes refer to locking somebody up as taking them to Aladdin's Castle,

Riverview Park was in operation from 1904 to 1967, so I only made it there once when I was pretty small. Riverview was a regular Chicago institution for most of the 20th century though, and it's still recalled very fondly by countless people 45 and up. To this day the subject of how many people got killed in mishaps at Riverview is still argued by people, and I've met several who insist the deaths were just urban legends. Actually they weren't urban legends at all as the following all occured at Riverview


Notable Mishaps and Disruptions at Riverview Park
14 June 1908 Man killed when he fell from his seat while on the Royal Gorge ride.
19 June 1908 Employee fell from platform and killed while performing maitenance on the Royal Gorge ride.
23 May 1910 A total of twenty-six patrons were injured in two separate incidents. The first involved the collision of two cars at the loading platform of the Derby roller coaster and the other involved a derailed car on the Royal Gorge ride.
Unknown date, 1910 Steer escaped pen at the 101 Ranch, fled the park, ran several city blocks, and gored to death the horse of one of the pursuing cowboys before being shot and killed by a Chicago police officer.
Unknown date, 1911 Amateur motorcyclist killed during an afternoon practice race.
30 June 1911 Nighttime fire destroyed six concessions, including the Passion Play, Over Land and Sea, Glide the Glide, Penny Arcade, The Lobster, and Tours of the World; $20,000 damage.
7 August 1911 Operator of Shooting Gallery concession killed when eleven-year-old boy shot him when he turned his back to clean a target.
Closing night, 1912 Professional motorcyclist killed during last race of the season at the park's motordrome.
14 May 1913 Leon Pitts, a professional motorcyclist, killed and two other racers severly injured during a 75-mile-per-hour collision before 2,000 spectators at the park's motordrome.
30 July 1913 Small fire near Miniature Railroad sparked by discarded cigar stub; fire extinguished by park employees before city fire crews arrived.
7 June 1914 Four trains on the Jackrabbit roller coaster collided at the bottom of the ride's highest incline; forty persons, most of them children, suffered only scratches and bruises.
31 May 1915 Nineteen-month-old boy injured when he escaped mother's supervision, walked beneath a gate, and was struck on the head by the "Mary Ann," a mechanical horse-and-cart ride.
22 August 1916 Nine-year-old boy died when he fell forty feet to the ground after reaching for his hat after it was blown off his head while riding the Greyhound roller coaster.
2 September 1916 Ten patrons arrested for disorderly conduct during annual "Mardi Gras" celebration.
6 September 1924 Seventeen-year-old male fell from roller coaster and died.
20 September 1925 Eighteen-year-old male died from a fall from a park ride.
April 1932 Pre-season fire destroyed the Bug House and much of the Derby Racer roller coaster.
6 August 1932 Fourteen-year-old boy fell from roller coaster and died.
July 1937 Two trains on the Pippin roller coaster collided; twenty-two persons injured.


Of course there were widespread rumors of a kid standing up in the Tunnel Of Love and getting decapitated, and another about the parachute ride dropping somebody in the adjacent North Branch of the Chicago River where they drowned, but these alleged incidents never occured. Never did the parachute ride myself, but a few much older guys told me it could be pretty scary and was prone to getting stuck at the top sometimes.


In the end the rides were falling into a state of disrepair and the park was losing money as increasing numbers of rowdies began frequenting the place causing a big drop in familes attending.
Today most of the site is taken up by a police station, small stores and a small college, I believe. The area along the River is a sort of haven for homeless people.

Seamus wrote:Riverview Park was in operation from 1904 to 1967, so I only made it there once when I was pretty small. Riverview was a regular Chicago institution for most of the 20th century though, and it's still recalled very fondly by countless people 45 and up. To this day the subject of how many people got killed in mishaps at Riverview is still argued by people, and I've met several who insist the deaths were just urban legends. Actually they weren't urban legends at all as the following all occured at Riverview


Notable Mishaps and Disruptions at Riverview Park
14 June 1908 Man killed when he fell from his seat while on the Royal Gorge ride.
19 June 1908 Employee fell from platform and killed while performing maitenance on the Royal Gorge ride.
23 May 1910 A total of twenty-six patrons were injured in two separate incidents. The first involved the collision of two cars at the loading platform of the Derby roller coaster and the other involved a derailed car on the Royal Gorge ride.
Unknown date, 1910 Steer escaped pen at the 101 Ranch, fled the park, ran several city blocks, and gored to death the horse of one of the pursuing cowboys before being shot and killed by a Chicago police officer.
Unknown date, 1911 Amateur motorcyclist killed during an afternoon practice race.
30 June 1911 Nighttime fire destroyed six concessions, including the Passion Play, Over Land and Sea, Glide the Glide, Penny Arcade, The Lobster, and Tours of the World; $20,000 damage.
7 August 1911 Operator of Shooting Gallery concession killed when eleven-year-old boy shot him when he turned his back to clean a target.
Closing night, 1912 Professional motorcyclist killed during last race of the season at the park's motordrome.
14 May 1913 Leon Pitts, a professional motorcyclist, killed and two other racers severly injured during a 75-mile-per-hour collision before 2,000 spectators at the park's motordrome.
30 July 1913 Small fire near Miniature Railroad sparked by discarded cigar stub; fire extinguished by park employees before city fire crews arrived.
7 June 1914 Four trains on the Jackrabbit roller coaster collided at the bottom of the ride's highest incline; forty persons, most of them children, suffered only scratches and bruises.
31 May 1915 Nineteen-month-old boy injured when he escaped mother's supervision, walked beneath a gate, and was struck on the head by the "Mary Ann," a mechanical horse-and-cart ride.
22 August 1916 Nine-year-old boy died when he fell forty feet to the ground after reaching for his hat after it was blown off his head while riding the Greyhound roller coaster.
2 September 1916 Ten patrons arrested for disorderly conduct during annual "Mardi Gras" celebration.
6 September 1924 Seventeen-year-old male fell from roller coaster and died.
20 September 1925 Eighteen-year-old male died from a fall from a park ride.
April 1932 Pre-season fire destroyed the Bug House and much of the Derby Racer roller coaster.
6 August 1932 Fourteen-year-old boy fell from roller coaster and died.
July 1937 Two trains on the Pippin roller coaster collided; twenty-two persons injured.


Of course there were widespread rumors of a kid standing up in the Tunnel Of Love and getting decapitated, and another about the parachute ride dropping somebody in the adjacent North Branch of the Chicago River where they drowned, but these alleged incidents never occured. Never did the parachute ride myself, but a few much older guys told me it could be pretty scary and was prone to getting stuck at the top sometimes.


In the end the rides were falling into a state of disrepair and the park was losing money as increasing numbers of rowdies began frequenting the place causing a big drop in familes attending.
Today most of the site is taken up by a police station, small stores and a small college, I believe. The area along the River is a sort of haven for homeless people.

Thanks Buddy. Somewhere there's a story there.

There's been at least one book and an hour long documentary made about Riverview. It was also the scene of political rallies and was a favorite spot for Prohibition Era mayor Big Bill Thompson.
Nelson Algren features a trip to Riverview by the two main characters (Bruno Bicek-Steffi Rostenkowski) in his very disturbing novel "Never Come Morning" as well.