The Complete Guide to Indiana State Parks by Nathan D. Strange

Author:Nathan D. Strange
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2018-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

THE UNION TRACTION COMPANY AND MOUNDS AMUSEMENT PARK

The Union Traction Company’s train system, known as the Interurban, once traveled through the western area of the Great Mound complex. For five cents, passengers would travel roundtrip from the nearby town of Anderson to visit the mounds and later the Mounds Amusement Park. One of the first electric trains, the Interurban made it possible for people to commute from small towns to larger cities and enjoy attractions that were a much farther distance away. One of the premier attractions in the area at the time, Mounds Amusement Park operated from 1897 until 1929. The forest that exists today was once cleared to make room for the famed rollercoaster called “Leap the Dips,” a merry-go-round, penny arcade, shooting gallery, a horseshoe field, skating rink, and many other park attractions. The park included a restaurant and a miniature steam train that circled the Great Mound. The park also had a two-story pavilion located on the bluff between Great Mound and the White River—with a restaurant and large dining room on the first floor and a dance hall on the second that hosted events on Friday and Saturday nights. As with many amusement parks of the era, the Great Depression took its toll on Mounds Amusement Park, and it was inevitably closed. The Union Traction Company sold the property to the Madison County Historical Society, who later donated it to the state of Indiana. Financial problems by the Union Traction Company were also unbearable during the Depression era, and with the dawn of the automobile, the company was forced to close the Interurban after a need for mass transit disappeared. The last run of the Interurban was on November 13, 1941. Remnants of the old Interurban Waiting Station and of Mounds Amusement Park still exist, with concrete footers and foundations scattered through the now reclaimed forest.

It is because Frederick Bronnenberg Jr. recognized the importance of preserving the mounds that they continue to exist today. Fighting to protect them from looters and farm plow destruction, he passed on his passion for preserving the ancient structures to his children, who continued to protect them until the land was turned over to the state. Richard Lieber first inspected the property in 1921 and found it to be worthy of further preservation as an Indiana State Park. With 258 acres already owned by the state of Indiana thanks to the Madison County Historical Society, the land became Indiana’s ninth state park in 1930.

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