Dartmouth Lincoln Park Video Will Take You Back to the 1980s

If you are old enough to remember Lincoln Park on the Dartmouth/Westport line, you will love this video uncovered by WGBH in Boston.

From the looks of the fashion and hairstyles, it appears that it was shot within a year or two of the amusement park's closing. my best guess would be 1985.

Watching that bustling arcade with kids huddled around the Asteroids and Ms. Pac-Man machines is '80s gold. The skeeball machines were also a hot commodity. For someone who didn't move to the SouthCoast until the mid-'90s, it's hard to believe that something this fun was located right here, just minutes away. It's also strange to see crowds of people walking around an amusement park without a cell phone in sight. This video was taken a solid 15 years or more before people started carrying phones everywhere.

READ MORE: Authentic Lincoln Park Skee-Ball Machine Found in Basement

I can't imagine what a bummer it must have been when Lincoln Park closed down after the 1987 season. The amusement park must have employed hundreds of people at its peak. Now, those people would have to find other jobs.

Safety Concerns Shut Down Lincoln Park

However, the decline in park attendance followed eventually by its permanent closing were due to a string of catastrophic roller coaster rides in which several people were hurt and two killed.

After the most recent fatality over the summer of 1986, the park assured the public that the Comet roller coaster had been thoroughly inspected and was deemed safe. The final straw came in September 1987 when the rollercoaster jackknifed due to faulty brakes and popped off the track.

Get our free mobile app

After 93 years in operation, the amusement park closed that December and never reopened.

What remained of the Comet was torn down several years ago to make way for homes on the former Lincoln Park site.