Forest Park was a trolley park in the town of Ballston, New York, United States. The park was built by the Schenectady Railway Company, owned by General Electric.[1] It consisted of Шаблон:Convert[2] located at the south end of Ballston Lake along the company's Schenectady to Saratoga Springstrolley line, and was serviced by a dedicated stop. It opened in 1904 and closed in 1927. By 1908 the park was said to have attracted between 75,000 and 100,000 visitors every season.[3]
The chief attraction of the park was its lake access. A small steam launch, the Comanche, offered 30-minute lake excursions. A number of rowboats and canoes were available for rent, and there were facilities for swimming. On shore, the park offered a dance pavilionШаблон:Convert[3][4] The park had a carousel, which is now located in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, by way of Kaydeross Park.[5] There was also a toboggan slide and a baseball diamond.[1]
The park provided entertainment including a dance band for the pavilion,[3] and hosted clambakes and picnics, often with fireworks after dark. A special trolley run, The Moonlight Special, brought people for dancing.[4]
In addition to entertainment, the park provided an area of lakefront, Шаблон:Convert as of 1908, which was subdivided into small lots and leased to individuals who could then construct a cottage on it. The lessee paid an annual rent for the property but remained the owner of any building.[3] By 1927 when the park closed there were 113 lessees.[2]
When the park closed it was listed as containing "an inn containing 10 or 12 rooms, a dance pavilion, a dining hall, ice cream parlor, log cabin, shooting gallery, restaurant and restaurant storehouse, boat house, ice house, pump house, dock, and on the east shore of the lake “the castle”."[2]
