The Steep Hill of History Themed Disaster Rides
Come one, come all! Come take part in the ride of the century! It has water, it has fire, and it has that beloved new invention from Mr. Edison himself, electricity!!!!
But make sure to keep a look out, disasters are bound to happen! On the fairway, visit our newest attraction, The Johnstown Flood! Be immersed in our cyclorama as it depicts the tragic death of 2000 plus people! Just down the block listen to our lecturer describe the untimely demise of up to 8000 people from the Galveston hurricane of 1900!
Folks, the list goes on. Where there's tragedy, there's money, and where there's money, there's us; waiting to take all that cash from you!
------------------------------------------------
It's funny how things connect sometime. I wasn't sure what I was going to grace your screens with this week, so instead of immediately dealing with that, I was playing around with GIS and story mapping. I was initially messing around with photos from a family trip, but that was going nowhere. Then I realized, hey, why not depict (as you do) one of the greatest tragedies of Pennsylvania's History?
For some background, the Johnstown flood occurred in 1889 after a poorly taken care of earthen dam burst and about 20 million tons of water (about the same amount that goes over Niagara Falls in 36 minutes) barreled through the Conemaugh valley destroying numerous towns before finally laying waste to Johnstown.
There are very few stories that just make me miserable. Even reading about concentration camp accounts doesn't bother me too much and that's just because you know what you're signing on for; it's not going to be a happy ride.
Then I read about the Johnstown flood. I didn't know anything about it. I mean, what could have happened in central PA that is so bad? Some flooding right? A collapsed roof? Maybe. I didn't think it was absolute annihilation of a small industrial city!
The best book on the subject is "The Johnstown Flood" by David McCullough. He uses oral history interviews and intensive research to describe the events leading up to and the aftermath of the flood. Basically, The Johnstown Flood is a story where at the end of each chapter, you say, "and then, it got worse"
(It's noteworthy to point out the fact that, yes, those buildings are on fire, because once all of the buildings were washed away, they got snared on a bridge and caught on fire killing everyone trapped inside those buildings.)
There is nothing remotely good that comes out of this! Sure there's a stray quasi-hero here or there, but it just doesn't make any difference. It's a miserable event with a depressing beginning, middle, and end.
Fast forward 12 years and some schumuck gets the idea to make an amusement "ride" out of the tragedy and puts it on at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. One year later, it moves to Coney Island for a 4 year stint in the park. According to the ticket to the right, it was "the most popular and greatest financial success of The Pan American Exposition."
...Just... why? So that got me thinking, what other fun amusement park rides are out there that depict some sort of tragedy in a way we may find, dare I say, enjoyable?
Coney Island was rife with them. Of course, there was Johnstown, but following the 1900 Galveston hurricane where around 8,000 people lost their lives, an attraction sprang up. In 1902, Mount Pelee on Martinique erupted killing nearly everyone in the city, (some say out of 30,000 only one or two survived, but that's likely false) but guess what popped up? An attraction complete with pyrotechnics and multiple exits, you know, just in case.
The list goes on: The SanFrancisco Earthquake? Check! The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius? Double Check! Literally lighting a building on fire for the amusement of park-goers as they watch actors get rescued by firemen? Sure, why not? Triple check!
It really makes you wonder what people were thinking back then? What's so great about celebrating events that killed so many people?
Then, I realized I am not so innocent.
There's an amusement park in Elysburg, PA called Knoebels. It's a great place and totally free, (parking and admission, you buy tickets for the rides) but there is one ride called Black Diamond that stands out among the normal roller coasters and merry-go-rounds. It is an indoor roller coaster and it is coal mining themed, which is appropriate since that area of Pennsylvania is notorious for having anthracite mines.
It sounds innocent enough, but have a watch and I'll tell you why it's kinda, well, strange.
This looks honestly pretty innocent. I mean who doesn't love a good rollercoaster that sort of fades into a hoaky, old school haunted house?
Well, there are two time stamps I want you to move to now.
1. 2:10 - On the left of the screen, there is a guy holding a birdcage. The catch is the guy is a skeleton and the bird in the cage is a dead canary. You can put that together.
2. 3:33 - On the left is a green blurry sign. It's hard to read, but trust me, it says Centralia.
Another quick PA fun fact: Centralia has everything you could hope for - a small population, quiet streets, oh, and a coal mine fire that has been burning constantly under the town since 1962.
So that ride you just watched ends up doing something similar to the Coney Island attractions. It depicts a disaster. The question is, what gives us any right to find enjoyment in events that killed/displaced thousands of people?
Backtracking a bit to our Coney Island rides, let's remember there was no TV. There wasn't any easy way to show people what had happened during a tragic event. Enter these carnival attractions. People needed to see what the Johnstown flood was like and conveniently, there was a cyclorama around to show them. Disregarding the carneys lining their pockets, these experiences were educational (and entertaining) for these people.
What about my beloved Black Diamond? Well, conveniently steps away from the ride is a museum dedicated to anthracite mining. Now trust me it is not a great museum by any means, but they have a surprising amount of stuff for an amusement park and for kids it's kind of a fun change of pace. Even if there is not much said about Centralia in the museum, it does its job as a facilitator for the public education of coal mining in Pennsylvania; kind of like some Coney Island attractions.
Honestly, dark tourism is hard. There's a lot to consider about who's having fun at who's expense and who is making money off of that fun. Should we feel guilty when we go on a ghost tour? Is a ghost tour appropriate when presented in a certain way? I think so, but Jimmy over there might not. There's no way everyone could ever be happy. In fact, I've never been in a situation where that's true. Dark tourism has only just begun to be explored as a legitimate industry. Many theories exist about the various "colors" of dark tourism. Like all history, it is important we experiment and attempt to understand the attraction to these destinations, but whether people like it or not, they have all been a part of dark tourism. We are surrounded by war memorials, we visit gravesites, and if you are like me, you may enjoy the odd roller-coaster.
Festina Lente my friends
--Jess--
Source Links:
https://www.heartofconeyisland.com/johnstown-flood-show.html
https://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/shows.htm
But make sure to keep a look out, disasters are bound to happen! On the fairway, visit our newest attraction, The Johnstown Flood! Be immersed in our cyclorama as it depicts the tragic death of 2000 plus people! Just down the block listen to our lecturer describe the untimely demise of up to 8000 people from the Galveston hurricane of 1900!
Folks, the list goes on. Where there's tragedy, there's money, and where there's money, there's us; waiting to take all that cash from you!
------------------------------------------------
It's funny how things connect sometime. I wasn't sure what I was going to grace your screens with this week, so instead of immediately dealing with that, I was playing around with GIS and story mapping. I was initially messing around with photos from a family trip, but that was going nowhere. Then I realized, hey, why not depict (as you do) one of the greatest tragedies of Pennsylvania's History?
For some background, the Johnstown flood occurred in 1889 after a poorly taken care of earthen dam burst and about 20 million tons of water (about the same amount that goes over Niagara Falls in 36 minutes) barreled through the Conemaugh valley destroying numerous towns before finally laying waste to Johnstown.
There are very few stories that just make me miserable. Even reading about concentration camp accounts doesn't bother me too much and that's just because you know what you're signing on for; it's not going to be a happy ride.
Then I read about the Johnstown flood. I didn't know anything about it. I mean, what could have happened in central PA that is so bad? Some flooding right? A collapsed roof? Maybe. I didn't think it was absolute annihilation of a small industrial city!
(It's noteworthy to point out the fact that, yes, those buildings are on fire, because once all of the buildings were washed away, they got snared on a bridge and caught on fire killing everyone trapped inside those buildings.)
There is nothing remotely good that comes out of this! Sure there's a stray quasi-hero here or there, but it just doesn't make any difference. It's a miserable event with a depressing beginning, middle, and end.
And then, it got worse...
Fast forward 12 years and some schumuck gets the idea to make an amusement "ride" out of the tragedy and puts it on at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. One year later, it moves to Coney Island for a 4 year stint in the park. According to the ticket to the right, it was "the most popular and greatest financial success of The Pan American Exposition."
...Just... why? So that got me thinking, what other fun amusement park rides are out there that depict some sort of tragedy in a way we may find, dare I say, enjoyable?
Coney Island was rife with them. Of course, there was Johnstown, but following the 1900 Galveston hurricane where around 8,000 people lost their lives, an attraction sprang up. In 1902, Mount Pelee on Martinique erupted killing nearly everyone in the city, (some say out of 30,000 only one or two survived, but that's likely false) but guess what popped up? An attraction complete with pyrotechnics and multiple exits, you know, just in case.
The list goes on: The SanFrancisco Earthquake? Check! The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius? Double Check! Literally lighting a building on fire for the amusement of park-goers as they watch actors get rescued by firemen? Sure, why not? Triple check!
It really makes you wonder what people were thinking back then? What's so great about celebrating events that killed so many people?
Then, I realized I am not so innocent.
There's an amusement park in Elysburg, PA called Knoebels. It's a great place and totally free, (parking and admission, you buy tickets for the rides) but there is one ride called Black Diamond that stands out among the normal roller coasters and merry-go-rounds. It is an indoor roller coaster and it is coal mining themed, which is appropriate since that area of Pennsylvania is notorious for having anthracite mines.
It sounds innocent enough, but have a watch and I'll tell you why it's kinda, well, strange.
This looks honestly pretty innocent. I mean who doesn't love a good rollercoaster that sort of fades into a hoaky, old school haunted house?
Well, there are two time stamps I want you to move to now.
1. 2:10 - On the left of the screen, there is a guy holding a birdcage. The catch is the guy is a skeleton and the bird in the cage is a dead canary. You can put that together.
2. 3:33 - On the left is a green blurry sign. It's hard to read, but trust me, it says Centralia.
Another quick PA fun fact: Centralia has everything you could hope for - a small population, quiet streets, oh, and a coal mine fire that has been burning constantly under the town since 1962.
So that ride you just watched ends up doing something similar to the Coney Island attractions. It depicts a disaster. The question is, what gives us any right to find enjoyment in events that killed/displaced thousands of people?
Backtracking a bit to our Coney Island rides, let's remember there was no TV. There wasn't any easy way to show people what had happened during a tragic event. Enter these carnival attractions. People needed to see what the Johnstown flood was like and conveniently, there was a cyclorama around to show them. Disregarding the carneys lining their pockets, these experiences were educational (and entertaining) for these people.
What about my beloved Black Diamond? Well, conveniently steps away from the ride is a museum dedicated to anthracite mining. Now trust me it is not a great museum by any means, but they have a surprising amount of stuff for an amusement park and for kids it's kind of a fun change of pace. Even if there is not much said about Centralia in the museum, it does its job as a facilitator for the public education of coal mining in Pennsylvania; kind of like some Coney Island attractions.
Honestly, dark tourism is hard. There's a lot to consider about who's having fun at who's expense and who is making money off of that fun. Should we feel guilty when we go on a ghost tour? Is a ghost tour appropriate when presented in a certain way? I think so, but Jimmy over there might not. There's no way everyone could ever be happy. In fact, I've never been in a situation where that's true. Dark tourism has only just begun to be explored as a legitimate industry. Many theories exist about the various "colors" of dark tourism. Like all history, it is important we experiment and attempt to understand the attraction to these destinations, but whether people like it or not, they have all been a part of dark tourism. We are surrounded by war memorials, we visit gravesites, and if you are like me, you may enjoy the odd roller-coaster.
Festina Lente my friends
--Jess--
Source Links:
https://www.heartofconeyisland.com/johnstown-flood-show.html
https://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/shows.htm
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