The beach at Midway Park is pictured. Photo courtesy of the Chautauqua County Historical Society Reference Credit: NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.

Did you know that Midway Park adjacent to Maple Springs began in 1898, making it one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating amusement parks? Originally, it was created by the Jamestown and Lake Erie Railroad as a picnic grounds and amusement center at a stop along its rail lines near the Chautauqua Lake shoreline. It was also reachable by water where steamboats landed at the “Midway” dock. Over the years, the park included a bathing beach with toboggan slide, dance pavilion and roller skating rink, tennis courts, and ballpark, as well as many amusement park rides and arcade attractions. Ownership of Midway Park transferred to the Chautauqua Navigation Company in 1915; then to Thomas Carr in 1939 and to Martin Walsh in 1951. The park remained owned and operated by the Walsh family until 2006 when it was purchased by New York State. It has been operated as a state park since that time and, in 2009, was designated as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.