Before today’s giant theme parks with elaborate rides named for cartoons, movies and superheroes, there were trolley parks.

The parks were built by trolley companies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a way to get workers and their families to ride the trolleys on weekends and holidays. At first they were simple picnic groves, but most later added carousels, other rides and live entertainment.

By 1919, just after World War I, there were more than 1,500 amusement parks around the country, and most of them were trolley parks, according to the National Amusement Park Historical Association. But as autos replaced trolleys, the streetcars and their parks faded away.

by James E. Casto | Charleston Gazette-Mail