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Sands Point Amusement Park
| Historic Site #: | 12-164 (Gone) Type: K5 | Town: | Sodus | ||
| Site Name: | Sands Point Amusement Park | GPS Coordinates: | 43.273307, -76.975337 | ||
| Address: | 7958 Wickham Blvd Sodus Point New York | ||||
| Description: | |||||
| Sands Point Amusement Park, which was located at the site of the present day Beach Park in Sodus Point, began as a small resort with snack vendors and a sandy beach, and by the 1950s grew to a 6 acre park with a restaurant, grandstand, bingo hall, a hot dog stand and 7 rides. In the mid-50s it attracted upwards of 15,000 visitors a week in the summer. In 1968, it was sold and became the present Sodus Point Beach Park. | |||||
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| This is an aerial photo taken sometime after 1956 after the fire destroyed the roof on the merry- go- round | Merry go round. Photo from Glen Proseus |
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| Train Ride. Photo from Glen Proseus | Ferris wheel and other rides. The above picture is courtesy of Laurie Hayden |
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| From ancestry.com we have an ad run sometime in the 1950s which indicates that the amusement park did not own its rides but rather rented the ride concessions out to small companies who then ran the rides during the busy summer season. |
| Historic narrative: | |||||
Sands Point Amusement Park, which was located at the site of the present day Beach Park in Sodus Point, began as a small resort with snack vendors and a sandy beach, and by the 1950s grew to a 6 acre park with a restaurant, grandstand, bingo hall, and 7 rides. In the mid-50s it attracted upwards of 15,000 visitors a week in the summer. This info is according to www.nyfalls.com In 1958, the owners/managers of the park were John and Maxine Bilotta From ancestry.com we have an ad run sometime in the 1950s which indicates that the amusement park did not own its rides but rather rented the ride concessions out to small companies who then ran the rides during the busy summer season. (see ad below) From this article, we can see that improvements continued on into the 1960s..... July 14, 1960 Record Owen Merrill Sodus Point Beach Park under the ownership and management of Mr and Mrs John Bilotta and Sid Sitterly of Newark has made many improvements, including an enclosed dance pavilion, arcade, bathing and picnic facilities All organizations are most welcome The grounds have been landscaped and marshmallow roasts are held in conjunction with record hops every week Future plans are for a 24 unit, double deck motel, facing the bay and channel. According to the September 6, 1968 edition of The Geneva Times, a New York State grant for $49,500 was made to Wayne County to acquire the amusement park and turn it into the present beach park. For additional information and memories of this amusement park, click this link: http://historicsoduspoint.com/recreation/sands-points-amusement-park/ | |||||
Historic Sodus Point web page