1/20/2024 0 Comments Gaslight village adrianWe’ll get into the history of Storytown in another episode, but without a doubt, Storytown was a success. It was called Storytown USA, themed after Mother Goose stories, and is generally considered one of the first true theme parks in the US. In 1954, then, a year before Disneyland opened, Charles Wood invested $75,000 in five acres of land off Route 9 between Lake George and Glen Falls. The resort wasn’t fulfilling enough for the guests. He’d realized something important about his audience – they were looking for more than just summer basics like tennis and boating. After years of development with these two summer resorts, Wood saw an opportunity. Originally called Erlowest, it was a Queen Anne-style stone castle that Wood developed into Holiday House, right on Bolton Road in Lake George, now called Sun Castle. He started by purchasing property near Schroon Lake (30 minutes north of Lake George) and developed a resort there called Arrowhead Lodge. Some consider Wood the pioneer of the tourism concept in Lake George. “And I could just see nothing but opportunities.” It was a fateful trip. As he later said, “It was just so pretty,” says Charley. When he asked for directions, he was told to take Route 9 north. The rink deal fell through, but he saw an ad locally for some land about 60 miles north, up in Lake George. The story goes that Wood visited Albany, NY after seeing an ad for a skating rink for sale. I came back full of beans and wanted to get into the amusement business.” Knott built a chapel and a volcano to entertain people while they waited for the dinner. Knott cooked chicken and made boysenberry pie. Knott had created the boysenberry, and Mrs. “I fell in love with what he had done,” says Charley. An article in Reader’s Digest led him to Southern California to see Knott’s Berry Farm. See, Charles read about the Knotts and their berry farm over in California. As he became an adult, he worked in aviation as an aircraft technician throughout World War II.Īfter the war, it was an article in Reader’s Digest, of all things, that planted the seeds for his future in the amusement industry. He started out his investments at a young age – he bought two houses at the age of thirteen, unthinkable and impossible in today’s world a century later. Born in 1914, Charles was an entrepreneur who made his own opportunities. Wood, dubbed by the IAAPA (the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) as the “grandfather of the American theme park”. To start today’s story, you need to know about the man behind it all: Charles R.
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