Now at an Abandoned Amusement Park Near YOU . . . .

Something of a hoary old cliche in Batman comics is the "abandoned amusement park" concept. Every few years the Joker will break out of Arkham Asylum and hide out in an "abandoned amusement park."

















Like "Abandoned Amusement Parks" pepper the landscape offering reluctant refuge to scurrilous psychopaths. (Note to Jonathan Gertsmeier: there's your alliteration fix for the month. Enjoy.)


Eventually, Batman finds the Joker -- I would guess because (a) Abandoned Amusement Parks are pretty rare commodities, and (b) Batman knows where they are -- and head for the nearest one to Arkham Asylum as soon as he hears the Joker has broken out . . . again.

Imagine my surprise to find one less than a quarter mile from my home!






"The Roaring Twenties" was an amusement park (now abandoned) here in San Antonio popular in the late 1930's to 1950's timeframe. Originally built almost 12 miles north of San Antonio proper, it now sits surrounded by the suburbs of north San Antonio. Situated by a dry river (that floods like hell every time it rains), it was difficult to reach during rainy season and appears to have suffered several instances of flood damage. (Fortunately, it doesn't rain that often here.)






As you can see here the grounds are pretty extensive. I'm unable to locate any on-line references to "The Roaring Twenties", but in talking to a couple of residents at a Nursing Home I recently worked at, apparently it was an amusement park of some kind during the day with a Dance Hall building (the only part that still remains) at night.




It's an odd feeling watching History crumble before your eyes.

~~JD~~