A comprehensive guide to 13 parks in the state, complete with information on rides and attractions. Packed with vintage postcard images and photos.

At one time, Western Pennsylvania was home to dozens of small amusement parks, many of them trolley parks. These parks, originally designed to bolster streetcar business, were a way for workers to seek respite from the crowded, dirty cities. While some of these parks never developed into much more than a dance hall and a merry-go-round, others became full-scale amusement parks with rides, entertainment, and other amusements. After years of battling floods, changing economies, the decline of streetcars, and competition from other amusement parks, many of these amusement parks ended up closing their gates for good, the thrills they once provided now relegated to memories. With many of these parks all but lost to time, it is time to take a look back and remember some of the most prominent lost amusement parks of Western Pennsylvania.

A ride on a rollercoaster is the highlight of any trip to an amusement or theme park, and such attractions have been entertaining the public for well over a century. From the first mass-produced rollercoaster, the Switchback Railway, through to the giant wooden coasters of the inter-war period, seaside historian Martin Easdown uses historic postcards and photographs to chart their development and that of other amusement rides including revolving towers, aerial rides, Ferris wheels and water chutes, all of which were produced from the late Victorian era in myriad forms. Essential to the very existence of such amusement venues as Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Margate Dreamland, these much-loved rides are not so far removed from their modern-day equivalents as they might at first appear.

Each year more people in the United States go to amusement parks than to baseball games. With carefully researched data assembled by one of the country's top amusement park experts, this revised guide features all the information anyone could want to know about one of America's favorite pastimes. 25 illustrations. 1 map.

Bands of Iroquois, the ill-fated General Braddock and Gilded Age tycoons have all roamed Pennsylvanias Allegheny Mountains. The rough peaks and dense woods of the Alleghenies were the nations first barrier to westward expansion. From frontier skirmishes and daring escapes along the Underground Railroad to the triumphs and tragedies of the Industrial Revolution, local journalist Dave Hurst explores the fascinating history and distinctive culture of the region. He regales readers with tales of fly-fishing, bold outdoorsmen, the legend of Johnny Appleseed and the origins of the banana split to capture the essence of Pennsylvanias Allegheny Mountains.