MILLBROOK PARK - New Boston, OH
01. This is the beautiful mural found on the famous Portsmouth Flood Walls.
02. Probably the best image taken during the coaster's short life with a baseball game in the foreground.
03. A postcard showing the Casino.
04. A view of the scenic bridge and hillside.
One of many towns with a history of steel production along the Ohio River, New Boston is located just east of Portsmouth OH, and was home to Millbrook Park. A side friction coaster was built in 1902 by Ingersoll, and at that time was the tallest one in the world. I doubt if the record was held long, but research shows it to be approximately 60 feet high. It was a modified version of the typical figure-8 layout common on side friction coasters (like Leap The Dips at Lakemont Park in Altoona PA). In the spring of 2002 I was commissioned to build a scale model of the coaster. It is on display in the New Boston city building at 3980 Rhodes Avenue, New Boston, Ohio. It was difficult as I only had a couple photos and the mural painting (see link) to go by! Since then, many postcards have surfaced including a few more views of the coaster (see link at bottom). The red brick power station can be seen in the few photos of the park. The coaster sat south of what is now a series of telephone pole racks. The lift hill faced north. A liquor store uses the former trolley station just north of the coaster site.
The same riverfront location that attracted visitors is what proved fatal to so many parks. Flooding at parks like these was unavoidable. The coaster survived a couple floods, but the one in 1913 damaged it beyond repair and it was never reopened due to the cost involved. The park itself entered the history books when the great Ohio flood of 1937 wiped out everything along its banks, combined with the growing steel industry that took over the park property. Coney Island in Cincinnati still has a marker indicating the 80' crest of the river that year!
LINKS
Outstanding article & photos on Millbrook Park in which my model was featured
Millbrook Park on the Roller Coaster Database