Ponce de Leon amusement park facts for kids
The Ponce de Leon amusement park was built on the site of Ponce de Leon Springs. Omnibus service from Atlanta to the springs started in 1872, and in 1874 horsecar service started. It developed in the late 1880s and 1890s with the addition of attractions for children, a dance hall and theater, and picnic grounds. In 1903 construction of the full-fledged amusement park began. By then the park was served by the Nine-Mile Circle electric streetcar line.
In 1907, a four-acre lake on the north side of Ponce de Leon Avenue was filled in to make way for the Ponce de Leon ballpark, now the Midtown Place strip mall.
The amusement park was whites-only – a sign at the entrance made clear, "colored persons admitted as servants only".
The amusement park closed in the early 1920s. The Sears, Roebuck southeastern headquarters was built on the site, opening in 1926, the building now known as Ponce City Market (former Sears building/City Hall East).
