Back in the mid 1800’s and early 1900’s there was a popular tourist destination called Ponce de Leon Springs near downtown Atlanta. It was seen more like a local spa with the mineral content of the water thought to provide health benefits. In January 1903, 47 acres of the land surrounding the spring was purchased by the future Ponce de Leon Amusement Company. Construction quickly started on a theater, a carousel and a casino. The owners tried to mimic Coney Island by building a ping pong parlor, a gravity railroad (precursor to our modern roller coasters), a Ferris wheel and a penny arcade and the park soon became known as “the Coney Island of Atlanta”.

There was a 4 acre artificial lake created in 1890 that was filled in to build a ballpark in 1907 that served as the home venue for the Atlanta Black Crackers, the city’s Negro league baseball team among others, making this a complete entertainment district. However, by the 1920s, with development encroaching and the amusement park declining in popularity, the land was sold. in 1924 by Sears, Roebuck and Co.  They purchased the land that contained the spring and the amusement park in order to construct their new retail and distribution headquarters for the southeast. Sears later sold this building to the City of Atlanta in 1990 which used it as City Hall East for a number of years.  In 2011 developers converted it into a mixed-use development called Ponce City Market and Historic Fourth Ward Park.

So what will you see if you go to the area today? Shockingly an amusement park! Skyline Park is a modern, carnival-style rooftop amusement park located atop Ponce City Market in Atlanta. It was designed as a nod to the area’s historic early-20th-century Ponce de Leon Amusement Company park. Skyline features vintage games, a three-story slide, a Heege Tower, mini golf and gorgeous city views.

Skyline Park was designed to bring a “Coney Island” feel back to the location as a nod to its history. To use a pun, it’s simply amazing to see a new amusement park “spring” from the site of another over 100 years later. It’s great when an area knows and embraces its history and I hope to visit Skyline Park soon and explore this fascinating homage to Ponce de Leon Springs and Ponce de Leon Amusement Company.