Early amusement parks were built near graveyards.

Coaster Dips roller coaster at Glen Echo Amusement Park, circa 1910-1935
Credit: © Hum Historical/Alamy
Author Michael Nordine
October 20, 2026

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Graveyards are typically considered somber places, but that wasn’t always the case. Before the days of Disneyland and Six Flags, cemeteries even hosted some of America’s first amusement parks, for a number of practical reasons that made more sense in the late 19th century than they do today. 

For one thing, amusement parks require a good deal of open space, ideally on inexpensive land. The plots next to or overlapping with cemeteries fit the bill, and also often happened to be at the end of transit lines, which provided an additional benefit. 

Streetcar, trolley, and rail companies actually built amusement parks to incentivize riding their conveyances to the end of the line and back during off-peak hours on evenings and weekends. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, for instance, was built on a sacred Indigenous burial ground in West Virginia, leading to both controversy and all manner of ghost stories. 

The result of these locations, according to Lost Amusement Parks of New York City: Beyond Coney Island authors Wes and Barbara Gottlock, was that “picknickers could be observed eating their lunches among the headstones and using the remaining foundation stones from the mansion as tables for their provisions” at Gala Park, an early amusement park in Queens that was also built on an abandoned cemetery. If you’ve ever ridden the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, that probably doesn’t sound so strange.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Disneyland is home to about 200 feral cats who keep the rodent population under control.

Humans aren’t the only Disney adults. There are also at least 200 feral cats roaming Disneyland, though they aren’t there for It’s a Small World. They’re drawn instead by the sizable rodent population, which would be considerably higher if it weren’t for the feline hunters. The Disney cats have been around for nearly as long as Disneyland itself, with the first ones spotted near Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in 1955. It quickly became clear that keeping them around did more harm than good. The “Happiest Place on Earth” provides the animals with permanent feeding stations, not to mention medical services such as spaying, neutering, and vaccinations. Though most active at night, the cats are frequently spotted during the daytime as well — and even have Instagram accounts and YouTube videos dedicated to their goings-on.

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