It was originally named Rittersville Park and was located on 40 acres of land. It was opened as a wooded picnic park with only a few rides - a carousel, toboggan, circle swing and the "Razzle-Dazzle". It had a giant sandbox for the children. In 1906 a theatre was added to bring major entertainers to the area.

The park had rides called The Frolic, Shoot the Chutes, Temple of Fun, and the Human Roulette Wheel. Some of the attractions were a dancing pavilion, shooting gallery, photograph gallery, bowling and billiards. Also a penny arcade and children's playground.

The dance pavilion was 6600 sq ft; big enough to handle any size crowd. The 1911 season brought 650,000 people to the park.

Central Park was forever in competition with nearby Dorney Park for the lastest and best rides. Rides were continually added to keep up with Dorney. A coaster named the Derby Racer ("Trip Through the Clouds") was one of the rides. The Derby Racer was the first racing coaster built in Pennsylvania.

A new coaster, the Cyclone, was built at Central Park in 1929. Later, another coaster, the Skyclone, was built. The Skyclone had a 90-degree turn in one of the "sky high" sections.

A Christmas Day 1950 fire destroyed the park. An amusement park worker dissatisfied with his pay set fire to the Derby Racer. The fire destroyed the racer and spread to the adjacent merry-go-round. According to newspaper reports, the fire caused an estimated $125,000 in damage. One side of the carousel was damaged.

The park closed in 1951 after the fire. (One report states that the Skyclone "ran until 1957 when the park closed").

The abandoned park stood until 1964 when it was demolished.

Now, if you know where to look, you can still find the footings of an unknown ride (possibly the Derby Racer).

The damaged carousel was saved and changed hands several times, including an oil company in Tampa, Fl, which owned an amusement park.

In 1969, an Atlanta businessman, Charles Walker, bought the old Central Park carousel. "This machine was in such bad condition", Walker said "It looks like it was in one terrific fire".

A 1986 article had the carousel being stored in a warehouse at his company. At that time, he had spent almost 20 years and $20,000 restoring the carousel, which was still not completed.

He replaced all the poles and swing arms, and added 1000 lights to the 1500 already on it.

"I hoped to put it in Piedmont Park in Atlanta", the '86 article quoted him.

Carousel	Central Park at Night

Home Stretch - Roller Coaster	The Rigamarole

Skyclone with a "sky high" 90-degree turn	Figure 8 Coaster approaching the last turn

Derby Racer	Derby Racer

Central Park Train	Picnic Grounds

Circle Swing

A Dip on the Derby Racer