Port Chester's Lost Boat Featured In New Book

Port Chester, until recently, was the home for a remnant from the Freedomland U.S.A. American history theme park that operated in The Bronx during the early 1960s. Freedomland was located on the property that has been occupied for a handful of decades by the Co-op City housing development and the Bay Plaza Shopping Center.

The American, one of two sternwheelers that traveled Freedomland’s Great Lakes (the other was The Canadian), was renamed The Mark Twain when it was purchased and relocated to the Greenwich Inn. The boat eventually became a private party boat. It was renamed again as The Showboat and it was docked for many years on the Port Chester side of the Byrum River. Sold last summer, the boat was destroyed accidentally late last year as it was hoisted onto a ship for transport to Korea.

Freedomland operated for five seasons (1960 until 1964). The park featured the Chicago Fire that roared with flames many times each day along with a trip on a bull boat in the untamed northwest wilderness. Dark rides focused on San Francisco’s earthquake, a buccaneer attraction with connections to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, a tornado recreation and a mine ride deep into the earth. Another popular Freedomland attraction allowed guests to witness the early stages of audio-automatronics as they rode on a correspondents’ wagon through the battle lines of rival Civil War armies.

Wild West shoot-outs at the fort and vintage steam trains also were popular with guests. More than 150 celebrities of the day, including Jerry Vale, Bobby Darin and Connie Francis, appeared at the park.

The Freedomland Facebook memory page boosts close to 10,000 fans. Group presentations about the history of Freedomland can be arranged by contacting Freedomlandusa@yahoo.com .

New Freedomland Book

The interesting story about The American and its sister sternwheeler (The Canadian) is featured in a new book, Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History. Published by Theme Park Press, the book details every aspect of the park from creation to bankruptcy. It includes the memories of several celebrity entertainers along with employees, character actors and many baby boomers. The book is available on Amazon, eBay, Goodreads and Barnes&Noble.

Freedomland U.S.A. was conceived and built by C.V. Wood and his Marco Engineering Company. Known to many as Woody, he was Disneyland’s first employee and he brought Walt Disney’s imagination to life by leading the team that built that park. He then created Marco Engineering to build theme parks and other venues across the country. Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington and the community of Lake Havasu, Arizona, continue to prosper today.