Rides were 12 cents at this 1940s Pierce County amusement park. Here’s what it was like
One of Janis Yoder Breen’s go-to spots as a child was her porch.
Breen’s childhood home, which sat at the top of a hill in the Puyallup area, used to have two little chairs on the porch for her and her brother. She said they would often watch the train chug along at what once was Pony Lake Park.
Pony Lake Park was a small amusement park that ran in the 1940s and ‘50s off Valley Avenue East, near 114th Avenue Court East.
Herman H. Johns created the park. He was a local berry farmer who wanted to operate a train and also had a love of children, according to the Puyallup Historical Society’s archives. The society has a folder filled with newspaper clippings about the park.
The amusement park had seven attractions. There was a steam train, merry-go-round, fire engine, Shetland ponies, an airplane, boats and a Ferris wheel.
It cost $1 for all seven rides or 12 cents per ride, not including tax. The park was open on the weekends and holidays from noon until dark.
The amusement park used to have advertisements in The News Tribune, formerly The Tacoma News Tribune, that read: “Most Elaborate Children’s Amusement Park on the Pacific Coast.”
Breen said she remembers the Ferris wheel at the amusement park and how flimsy it was.
“Heck, why did I get on that?” she said as she chuckled.
Breen, 75, said her parents used to take her and her brother to the amusement park all the time. However, her favorite childhood memory is watching the park from her porch, sometimes with a glass of chocolate milk made by her mother.
Breen was born and raised in the Puyallup and Sumner area. She said she was around 6 years old when the amusement park closed in 1954. She went to school in Sumner, worked in Puyallup, and now lives in Redmond.
This story was originally published December 10, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
