Fair Park in Nashville Photo Gallery by Chip Curley at pbase.com

Fair Park in Nashville

Please visit my NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Websites which features MEMORIES OF NASHVILLE.
Fair Park Amusement Park in Nashville, Tennessee opened in 1952 and survived through 1987 when competition from Opryland USA killed it. It featured a big roller coaster (Skyliner, Paris After Dark, the Mad Mouse, Tilt-a-Whirl, bumper cars, hand cars, the Cyclone, pink & blue cotton candy, and an actual organ grinder with a little monkey that took money. Vietti Chili labels or RC Cola caps could get you a whole afternoon of rides. Fair Park also had a miniature golf course which held a tournament every labor day with the winner going to a national event.
1. Video of Centennial Park and Fair Park
2. State Fair and Fair Park.
Special thanks to Scott Hadfield for finding these pictures.






Cascade Plunge

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Paul Robertson		09-Apr-2022 15:05
Cascade Plunge was a summertime ritual. What a fun pool with a waterfall, high and low diving boards, an island in middle and swing rings. It was worth all the sunburns. Sadly after desegregation in the sixties it fell out of favor. Last couple times I went shortly after getting my drivers license there was literaly about 5 people all day. As for fair park and the TN. state fair? It was never the same after the Womens building burned. The board replaced the beautiful old building with brickoblock warehouses. They let the glass top horse arena down below fall into decay and the State Fair became a pitiful carnival.

scott jinnette		05-Oct-2018 03:28
when cascade plunge closed my mother jerre jinnette and a couple of other people started the Glendale swim club in Melrose next to the krystal restaurant which is being torn down soon I also went to the seven hills club some as my step father the late howard Morton was a member im 71 now yet the memories of fair park the old race track and the plunge are still easy to remember

R s		26-Sep-2016 16:31
I work at the fair park from 1953 thru 1955 at the pony rides.i am living in il, now and have a lot of great memories albout fair park, that was my first job I ever had and will never forget fair park

Guest		01-Feb-2016 02:03
Thank you for sharing these memories for me,I enjoyed so much.this was a great time when growing up for me.

BA		10-Sep-2015 00:57
I just purchased the carousel horse mentioned below. I was so happy to find this history on the park and see if there was any more info on the carousel. I'm not sure the story is true but would love to know if this truly came from Fair Park. I've always wanted on and now I have one and love it. I would be happy to share a picture if you can tell me where to send it. Maybe someone out there will remember it.

Ron		11-Aug-2015 22:52
I am currently preparing a spot in Sumner County to resurrect "Fair Park", as a tribute to the original. We are planning to open in 2016.

Guest		23-Nov-2013 19:13
An update on the fair park carousel horse info. It was obtained from a worker who helped dismantle the carousel in the early 60's. he asked his boss if he could take a horse as part payment .The boss agreed and he chose the purple,blue, and orange horse as shown in the carousel photo. It has writing on it which reads:America's first family of fun,Welcomes you to fair park and the horses name is Donnie. This was most likely the :lead" horse as carousels had what was known ad a lead horse. he married sometime later and his ex-wife acquired the horse through part of a divorce settlement. The deceased daughter's mother called the red lion consignment shop near Nashville west..She stated that it was time to downsize and wanted to sell the horse which had been in her living room for a number of years.

Pete Mason		31-Oct-2013 22:14
I have a friend who recently acquired what appears to be an original fair park carousel horse. I know this sounds rather phony, but I just viewed it a couple of hours ago. In researching fair park, I pulled up a pic of the carousel. It wasn't the best focused photo, but looks very much like what she has. The lady who now owns it claims she is selling it for a client who is the original owner who acquired it in 1987 when the park was closed. it has fair park written across it in cursive and the name Donnie. It was supposedly a gift that was given to her shortly after the closing.

Jim		15-Oct-2013 23:19
Barry, When, where, what rides will be sold?

Barry		15-Sep-2013 19:46
I have some of the original rides that are going to be sold.

Johnny		19-Feb-2013 03:31
We would ride our bikes or take the bus to fair park. I can remember everything about this park from my childhood days. Collecting all the RC bottle caps for rides.The Sky liner, mad mouse and the turn pike were my favorites. We grew up in woodbine and spent a lot of time there. We also spent a lot of time at the Cascade plunge until they shut in down. We were able to take our two kids a few times before they shut it all down. Thanks to the Massey family for all the great memories.

Everett		10-Sep-2012 04:05
Does anyone have any pictures of the Hodges crank handcars when they were at Fair Park? I would really love to have some history on these wonderful toys as I restore them to their full glory. I can be contacted at info at know-how-inc dot com. Thanks

beverlymitchell		29-Aug-2011 01:03
MY BROTHER GARY KELLEY AND ME BEVERLY KELLEY WENT TO FAIR PARK EVERY SAT WITH OUR GRANDMOTHER . WE CANE DOWN FROM HENDERSONVILLE, TN TO NASHVILLE THEN WE RODE THE BUS AND STAYED ALL DAY. WE LOVED THE HAND CARS AND TILT A WHIRL BEST . THANKS FOR THESE WONDERFUL MEMORIES SO COOL. BEVERLY

Donna		21-Jul-2011 20:16
This is so awesome. One of few happy memories from my childhood. We were dirt poor. Every year we would go to all the stores in our small town and ask the owners to keep all their bottle caps for us. That was back when the bottles had pop tops and the refrigerators they were in had bottle openers on the end witha container for the caps to fall into. If I remember, you got one free ticket for every six RC caps. We would dig through and find all the RC caps. Then one day of the summer, my mom took us to spend the day at Fair Park. I remember riding the haunted house ride so much I had it memorized but it still scared me to death. My favorite ride was the paratrooper. Thanks for the memories!! :-)

Donna		21-Jul-2011 20:12
This is so awesome. One of few happy memories from my childhood. We were dirt poor. Every year we would go to all the stores in our small town and ask the owners to keep all their bottle caps for us. That was back when the bottles had pop tops and the refrigerators they were in had bottle openers on the end witha container for the caps to fall into. If I remember, you got one free ticket for every six RC caps. We would dig through and find all the RC caps. Then one day of the summer, my mom took us to spend the day at Fair Park. I remember riding the haunted house ride so much I had it memorized but it still scared me to death. My favorite ride was the paratrooper. Thanks for the memories!! :-)

Walter Ethridge		30-Dec-2010 08:33
I was 20 years old and just out of the Air force, July 1966. Needing a job, I happened to go to Fair Park. The place where some of my fondest memories happened. I was hired and taught how to run the Mad Mouse in about 15 minutes by the chief mechanic "Unk". I finished the season after learning how to run every ride there. I was placed permanantly on the "number 16 wheel", Thats the Ferris Wheel to all non carney's. During the off season I worked at various jobs and met my first wife, and we both went to work at Fair Park the next spring. Dot at the concession stand and myself at the Ferris Wheel. Later in the year the old concession stand was torn down and the new one was built and my wife was made manager. The building still stands to this day. I was later asked to be the manager of the Skyliner roller coaster. For those of you that don't remember, the roller coaster had a very sharp and steep curve in the very back turn around. Myself and two other carpenters completely tore that down and replaced it with an elevated turn around that was not as stressfull on the coaster cars during the off season. I have some pictures somewhere and if I can find them I will post them. The old wives tale that the coaster was falling apart and shook everytime you rode it and was dangerous, and that people had been thrown off is false. The coaster was designed to flex under the stress of the coaster cars. I personally walked the entire length of the ride, up and down those steep hills, every single day to inspect for any loose pieces of track or bad lumber, AND I walked it twice a day during the run of the State Fair. Many thanks to Wallace and Fred Massey, Miss Evelyn, "Unk, and all of the other people who worked there, AND really enjoyed their jobs. The job of making children of all ages happy.

Jon Whitney		29-Dec-2010 20:22
I remember going to the school's out party there in 1972 or 73. Alice Cooper was performing his hit song School's Out for Summer. We also used to collect RC bottle tops to cash in for ride tix. I can still remember that weird musty smell in the haunted house which back then was called "Paris After Dark". I loved the Mad Mouse and the Skyliner. At age 51, I now look back and feel very blessed to have enjoyed Nashville back in the good ole days.

Ron Miller		15-Dec-2010 20:43
I worked as a life guard at the Plunge in the 60's, wounderfull pool, great memories, very diffrent times.

Guest		07-Dec-2010 02:26
Oh wow, my mom used to take me there when I was a little girl in the sixties and seventies and the ride Paris After Dark used to scare me silly, it was really cool! Thanks for the memories!

Charlotte		22-Oct-2010 21:43
P.S. We would drive up from Huntsville, Alabama and it was always an exciting experience for all of us.

Charlotte		22-Oct-2010 21:41
I remember visiting Fair Park as a child. My Dad, Fred Massey was first cousin to Wallace and Ross Massey. Great times. It was certainly a highlight of my Dad's life as he always enjoyed visiting with Wallace and Ross, his cousins. They were three of the most handsome men I had ever seen.

Dant�		01-Sep-2010 19:31
Thank you Chip, and Big thanks to the Massey Family. I was amongst the last of the employees to work at The Honorable Fair Park. This was my first Job ever! and for that reason and as I look back, I'm so grateful. I use to work the duck pond, game room and then I graduated to the Bumper Cars, and then The Hunted House. (as a tear falls from my eye) These were unreplaceable memories. This is the place where I first uttered the words "I LOVE YOU" to my girlfriend at the time Sheila" and had true meaning to the term. She dressed up in the nicest summer clothing and came to visit me. I took Pride in my first Job and I learned Customer Service was the Key to the Parks attraction. I was given so many historic Stories by the Train Conductor that wore the overalls (Ahhggg - Cant remember his name). But to bottom line to my post is that this webpage has blessed my heart and I can't thank you enough for the wonderful photographic memories!!!!!

guest		22-Jun-2010 16:20
my mom was telling me about this place. she said it was something like lake winnie close to chatanooga now... my papa used to work here, however, he just died may of '09, he was 85. he used to tell me about this place. how they used to drink a whole bunch of rc cola's to get free tickets. its amazing how much fun you colud have back then and to really have to hold on to your kids or watch over your sholder. sometimes i wish i was born back then. it was opend the year my mom was born she was 35 when it closed and i come along 4 years after that. its amazing what somebody my age knows about things like this. thank you for the pictures you posted

Brenda		01-May-2010 04:21
Thanks from me too. My memory was going to my Dad's work and (my dad) robbing the drink machine of all the RC cola caps and spending hours at Fair Park.

Guest		08-Apr-2010 09:24
Any pics of the hand cars?

Guest		06-Apr-2010 16:10
My grandfather worked there for many years after he retired from the construction business. I spent a lot of time there with my brothers and remember all of those rides oh so well. I was saddened when the park closed. Thanks for the pictures and bringing back some great memories :)

Ross Massey		18-Sep-2009 15:53
My father and his brother owned Fair Park. There are some rare pictures here. Some research must have been done to find the ads for Turnpike cars. They were based on a 1956 or 1957 Plymouth. My father said they cost about $2,000 each, which was more than some real cars cost new. But they were built for the toughest drivers in the world; children! Opryland was a factor in the closing, but so was insurance costs. It was expensive and difficult to keep the rides running safely. Most of our employees were really good people. I wish there were pictures of them.Most have passed away. I went to the State Fair last night and showed friends where a few things had been. The golf course photo must have been soom after it was built. My father, Wallace Massey, built the structures. As the landscaping improved it was a little oasis where you could rest in the shade. I have some scrapbooks on the park.Hopefully the Nashville Room or State Library will accept them some day.

Guest		13-Sep-2009 22:27
Hey Chip, Many Many Thanks for posting these pictures......... Went there many times, most of the time several of us from Antioch went , Eddie Fitzgerald, Ed and Ronnie Garton, and of course I went there many times to see my then girl friend Debbie Chadwell.... Remember the story about the girl that got cut on the slide by razor blades....

John		11-Sep-2009 23:30
Thanks for posting these photos. I've often wondered about Fair Park after we moved away from the area in '73. It was truly a childhood treasure.

tom		28-Jul-2009 20:08
great pics whent to fair park many times..thanks for the memories

gjf		05-Jun-2009 17:43
That was the downfall of good family intertainment in Nashville. And they did it all for Opryland. Now you see where that went......

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