Arcade Building

Thank you!!! I enjoyed this tour more than I thought I would. Shame there isn't any more, but then they let you keep what you already had.

Thank you for this wonderful gallery. Abandoned amusement parks is were my obsession originally started. (when I stumbled across abandoned "Storyland" while on vacation) I absolutely loved this gallery. Some of the circa '20's rides are still in operation in Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh and at Blackpool Amusements in Blackpool, England. I love both of those parks.

I clicked the link that Motts provided, and I couldn't believe how much some of the old rides sold for.

Viewing this gallery fit in nicely with a book I bought yesterday.

http://theplaymakers.com/welcome/

No wonder I was seeing images of 'happy kids'

These picture brought back a lot of memories. Thanks.

from the looks of the old "new" pictures...this was actually an arcade.

out of all of the pictures on your site...these make me feel the most sad. *sigh*

mimi is correct! This was the old "arcade" and game room.

Motts, have you ever explored the old Rocky Springs Amusement Park in Lancaster, PA? Most of it has been torn down for a retirement community, but parts were still standing a few years ago when I checked into it.

Right Mimi. the Bumper Car building was not a free standing building it was in the middle of a
few other things ....redemption center? fortune tellers?

I know this park. The building pictured was a video arcade.

It's the arcade. I worked there. I gave away sooo many free games to the little kids.

God this is tough to look at. I want to remember it the way it was...

So sad. I used to visit this park many times every summer as a child. Love the shots, but sad to have learned of its demise this way. Looking at the pictures did bring me back though. Sent the link to my brothers.

Yep, this was the video game arcade. The bumper car structure was an open structure which was burned down at the end of the 1990's.

I tried to get in and look at the park what it is now, but the State Trooper said its all mush now and coyotes are in there and its dangerous...has anyone else heard that? This was las fall......

I very highly doubt there are Coyotes in there. That may have been a ploy to keep you from jumping the fence, L-O-L!

This set has me tempted to take photos of an old marine park north of Perth. About the only thing still intact is a huge scary statue of the god Neptune.

Hey! Wait a minute. I worked at this park. I know it inside and out. This is NOT the old bumber car stand. This was the old arcade stand. This is where all the pinball and video games were played in. How many others are misslabled?

My family used to own and operate the park. It has been years now and my parents are long gone, but the pictures bring back many memories.i also still have alot of smaller items from the park that i look at from time to time when i am feeling sentimental. thanks for the pictures.

You might also try LINCOLN AMUSEMENT PARK in North Dartmouth, Ma. That park closed at the end of the 1980's. I think the wooden roller coaster and some buildings are still standing.

I'd like to say that I enjoyed these pics, but it is sad. I visited RI back in 1991 or so on a 4H exchange trip. The family I stayed with took me to Rocky Point and it is an awesome memory. I wish I had picks from the park when it was alive.

as an fyi, the games company at rocky point had run games at lincoln park too. I think some of the chintzy prizes we had when I worked there were left over from lincoln park./
I kid you not.
ANd yep, there are probably coyotes there. there always were in that area.

somewhere i have one or two rolls of negatives from this park that i took in 1994. I still have a few prints on my wall. don't know that they're all that great though.

The games company was named MRB Games and is/was based in New Rochelle, NY. MRB stood for Mel, Ronnie and Beatrice. They were contracted by the park to run the games department. They also managed some of the slot machines at Foxwoods and other casinos.

A great story is that when the games commission came through to do an inspection they were reviewing the various games to decide if they were fairly run or not and whether or not they were games of chance. Games of chance were not allowed. Games of skill were the only ones permitted. The inspector was going to nix the milk jug toss where the object was to put a softball through the top of an old time mik jug. Games inspector said it was too difficult and therefore a game of chance - that no one could do it as a developed skill (the clearance on the milk jug top was very very narrow to the size of the ball). The games manager escorting the inspector around disagreed and picked up a softball right on the spot and tossed it directly into a milk jug. The inspector then relented and the game stayed.

....the games manager had never before been successful in tossing the ball and was never able to replicate the shot afterwards...

I went to the park just yesterday to take a gander. I was only 11 the last time i had been there. I remember the last ride i went on, i forget what it was called but it was kind of like a ferris wheel but you were put in this car like thing that had a steering wheel for you to turn while you when up and around. I was to weak to turn it so i would go upside down every time i went to the top. needless to say i did not enjoy that particular ride.
anyways, i just would like to say that looking at your pictures and how it was yesterday just saddens me and it is a shame that this is what has come to be of what i always thought was the greatest amusement park ever.

the milk jug ball toss was wiked hard!!! occasionally, I would give one of the prizes away after someone had dropped what seemed like an obscene amount of money (at the time) to me....

We lived just over the line in CT and would go up there frequently during the summer and have the chowder and clamcakes. Then go off into the park. It is so sad ( and intriguing) to see this pictures. Is the shore dinner hall still standing?

Once again, Motts, thank-you for preserving memories for us!

I tpp worked at Rocky Point on two separate occasions. Once for the park (food concessions) & the second was for a dance company that put on shows. I did the tech not the dancing, thank God. The ride that you had to steer was called the Enterprise and was right in front of the Arcade. Just as a side note, I saw my first concert there. It was The Fixx. I'm really dating myself here. I loved that park. I just wish that there was a park like that where my kids could go on a weekend night and I wouldn't have to drive for over an hour. Thanks for the memories.

Correction to Patricks post. The Enterprise did not have a steering wheel. The ride with the steering wheel was called the SkyDiver. It is true that the Enterprise was in front of the Arcade.

The dance company put on shows primarily on the Showtime stage located in front of the park management office. The dance shows and magicians act did their prepping/practice in the old Cliff House lounge. A closed down bar/night club located in a separate section of the park management office. No windows. Rumors of hauntings blah blah blah. A number of people I knew did not like going in there.

i thought that it was nice seeing the old rocky point park and it brought back some good memmories from when i use to work there and when i also use to attend the park as a kid and an adult

If you go there, look outside this buliding...there are all weird electronics just left. Tvs, tape recorders.....boxers.

Try 2 get in yesterday-Did not get 2 far!Cop inside.There must be other way 2 get in!I must see 1 last time!

Too bad the po-po had to chase you down. I know it's their job and blah blah blah. At least you got a lot of really great pics, though. Thanks for the memories!!

I grew up in Longmeadow-a few miles to the north of the park. Every night we could here the whip? making its slinging sound. My brothers worked there and I worked at the batting range owned by a friend of mine. When we were teens we went there in the winter and walked through Draculas castle in the pitch dark!

if you look at the park from above on google earth, you can see that there is actually a back road that the police use to get in and out.

there is also a large storage warehouse on the property that has a silent alarm.

Good site

Although I grew up @ Crescent Park, this was the last of the line to die.......man I miss those days. Thanx for the memories

there are coyotes in that area of Warwick RI now. I lived there and went to Rocky Point a few times every summer. I miss it very much. there was always something so magical being there with the salt water breeze in the air. My favorite ride was the Music Express. What's better than getting thrown around and aound to blaring music! I wish there was still a park there my kids would love it. SO much better than these huge parks like six flags. thanks for the memories!

Fire @ the Cliff House on 10 News tonite - they did a walk thru of what's left of the park (sad).......Satan Worship a problem they're saying ? More like kids w/spray paint and little imagination I suspect.

I always become irate when they blame stuff like this on Satan worship. That's a load, and they know it. It was probably WalMart worship, more likely; a far more widespread and insidious form of worshipping the "dark side". >:-(

Here is a video link from a local TV station. A portion of it shows the park in full operation back in the 90s.

http://www.turnto10.co...10090882/detail.html

Was this in Warwick RI?
There used to be an amazing rollercoaster down in Newport RI, (Second Beach) that has now been filled in with water and when the water is low you can still see the wooden coaster emerged in the water. So sad.

MR. Black was partially right. MRB was a low life operation out of PA. Jerry DiCapua was the manager for the games and he and his family were out of Baltimore!

John Black-
Not sure if you heard about the RP documentary-Is this something that you would be willing to participate in?I think your knowledge of the park would be crucial.

My father, back maybe in the 60's and 70's worked in the park. He fixed many games in the arcade. I remember having something wrong with my foot as a little girl, my mom taking me to see my dad at the park and we have a pic outside the arcarde together. I haven't remembered that for years! My dad has passed away now, but so many memories have come back, it's awesome!
Thanks

wish I would have known about this site before they demolished Whalom Park in Lunenburg, MA. The Park has been closed for many years and was home to many historical amusement rides. The "whip" was made by the original maker of this ride. The carousel also has huge history of which I'm unsure of, but I know they have left that one structure on the grounds.

i swear i had a dream of that building. i never seen it before ecept in dream.

im a rhode islander, was never old enough to actually see the place, now i wish i could go

eric, knock it off; you're giving me the creeps!
Anyway, by now, that's all this place probably is, a dream.

i am a 29 yr old rhode islander and i was look ing back at all the good memories i had there it is a shame that i would never get to take my own kids there. sure there is six flags but nothing beat a day of rides and then eatting at the chowder house on a cool fall day damn thoses back taxes
thanks for the site

i was at the park 2 day!it was so cold out.It was great 2 walk the Midway one last time!It will all be gone soon!!!TAXES!!what a waste!!!I

I think that the City of Warwick along with the State of Rhode Island could have done more to keep the park open. What did the City, State and the people of Rhode Island gain by the park closing...

So said these pictures are, they make you depressed. I never seen this place before, but the storied from you guys are enough. Wish I could see it before its all gone.

A wondeful place Sean...

nice pics .. brings back alot of happy times as a kid. too bad my kids wont have the same happy memories

Hey Motts, Great Web Site. Does anyone know what security company if any patrols this site. I work for one and was wondering. I would love to get in.

The last time I went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach I noticed that almost all the rides had a plaque stating when they opened.

Some also stated that a few other parks had similar rides, Kennywood was one mentioned a few times, along with a park near Mexico City.

i went into there today and man its just so depressing like everyone said, cause after i went all i wanted was for it to be back open. Such good memories from when it was open.

I am putting together a list of Music Express songs for my IPod playlist. Does anyone have any ideas?
Any former DJs out there?

This is in response to Kevin's request for a list of Musik Express (yes it was spelled with a K) music.

Understand that even today RI has a big 80s rock oreintation. Music Express music changed each year but typical music included: (and much of this played into the 90s).

1. Def Leppard - particularly Pour Some Sugar on Me.

2. Great White's - The Once Bitten album. For those of you from outside RI this is the band that was playing when the Station House Nightclub burned to ground in 2003 when a pyrotechnic show went bad (understatement) and 100 people burned to death. I didn't lose anybody but I was making calls that night to find out.

3. Damn Yankees

4. Rick Astley - go figure. I don't know why this made it either.

5. Steppanwolf - Born to Be Wild.

6. Van Halen - Pre-Hagar.

7. Aerosmith.

8. Queensryche - I Don't Believe In Love

9. Skid Row

10. Scorpions - Savage Amusement

11. Metallica

12. Iron Maiden

13 . Bad Company - the album with Shooting Star and Rock'N Roll Fantasy.

14. Jody Watley

15. Kim Wilde

16. Samantha Fox

17. Expose

18. Cover Girls

19. Taylor Dane (who did actually perform there)

20. Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction

21. Motley Crue

22. AC/DC

23. Billy Idol - Rebel Yell

24. Billy Idol - the follow up album that had White Wedding.

25. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts - The album with I Love Rock N Roll

26. Lita Ford

27. Bon Jovi

28. Ratt - Out of the cellar

29. Warrant - The Album Cherry Pie

30. Journey

31. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

32. Anthrax

33. Snap - The Power

34. Black Sabbath

35. Ozzy Ozborne - The Ultimate Sin

36. Boston

37. Cinderella

38. Dokken

39. Heart

40. White Snake

41. Bryan Adams - The album with Summer of 69.

42. Europe - The Final Countdown (double ugh!)

43. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire

44. Dire Straits - Money for Nothing.

45. Huey Lewis and The News

46. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers.

...hope you're not disappointed. I'm not defending all this music mind you...I'm just reporting on what was there. Some was good, some was bad. Some was very very bad. The above list is by no means complete.

Additionally, when I name only one song. I don't mean they bought the single. It just means I dont know the album name.

Another list of interest would be all the bands that actually played live there. They did get some big names and there were concerts almost every weekend from about June to labor day. Everything from reasonably unknown bands like Danger Danger, to well known cover bands like The Machine to big time names like Gloria Estefan and Steppanwolf. The concerts were introduced in the 80s and stayed until the park closed.

I AM IRON MAN

I just happened to be surfing the web and came upon this site. This is the saddest thing I've seen in a long time. I used to go there every summer! I even had a chance to take my kids there before it closed (1996). Talk about bringing back memories! I can't believe they're going to build condos! Hey does anyone remember Lincoln Park??

John,
Great list of bands and songs...brings back lots of memories riding on the Musik Express!

Thanks

What great memories of RP. Those pics of how the park now stands are so depressing. Other than taking atleast an hour and 1/2 there is no amusement parks around here now. You now have your choice of Six Flags, Canobie, Lake Compounce, etc. All big $$ admissions. The days of my parents packing us kids up and pending the day at RP. During the hot days of the summer, you would stand at the fence of the flume, get soaked from one of the logs coming down, then get on a ride like the Enterprise or the Musik Express. Oh the days!! Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

I remember running around this building when I was a kid.

Dude you are the fuckin man... good lookin out with those pics... damn i miss that place

Thanks for the pics. I wish I had known back in 1994 (last time I was there) that it was the begining of the end for RP... SIGH.

It's so sad I feel like I've lost my best friend makes me want to cry

it so sad I want to move away

I agree with collin. I used to think RI was a state to love. There WAS alot here once upon a time. But Rocky Point, the Warwick Musical Theatre and so many other state treasures are gone now, and there is very little for families to do. I too want to move away.

It is sad to see such a wounderful thing be burned to the ground.

best place to skateboard ever! they should just let us skate there we eouldnt bother anybody

dont click on puddle boy's link it contains a trojan horse.

I worked there!! that was my first job in the park (Iworked in the Shore dinner hall for 2 years). The arcade was a blast. I met my first true love there. Her name was Kerri Melillo, she has married since and is now Kerri Batista, if you know her please say hello dor me. RP was my personal playground for my childhood and teenage years. My father ran security for the park from the mid 70's until his retirement in the late 80's. I only thought about RP a few days ago after seeing a you tube video. It brought back tons of memories, and I have been on the computer for a few days now looking at all the old photos. thanks
retailtuna@yahoo.com

Pac-Man, anyone?

Everything I know about RP I learned from the comic books Tales of Rocky Point Park. Definitely a good read. So as it stands, I've never even been to Rocky Point Park and these photos bring tears to my eyes. I want a time machine.

Wonderful gallery, albeit a little sad and even a bit frightening for me. I live in RI, and my parents used to take me here when I was little. To see what people have done to it is heartbreaking, to say the least. And very haunting to know that I rode on that carousel at one point...

i went to rocky point for the first time on a 7th grade field trip, and instantly fell in love with it!!! i lived in hanson, mass. at the time, but, once i got my license in 1987, i made the trip to warwick several times a summer / fall until it closed. i saw many great bands there- michael morales... one hit wonder with the song"who do you give your love to" and the divinyls... "i touch myself"; my friend and i stayed late after that show, and went on all the rides with the band... hot lead singer!!! great memories!!!! wish my girls could have seen the place!!!!

I live nearby. Trust me, there are coyotes in the park as the police officer told someone.

Gosh, I miss Rocky Point SO MUCH! I spent many, many summer days there in the 70s and it didn't get better than that! You got the yarn wrist bracelet fastened with a metal clip and it was awesome to show it off throughout the park because that meant you were one of the lucky ones to ride all day for one price (at the time it was like $3.50!!!) Many of my favorite rides were like 5 and 6 tickets, which was ALOT back then! Since finding this site, I've become completely obsessed with Rocky Point all over again. I just saw the Rocky Point movie, "You Must Be This Tall" and I'll tell you, it brought me right back onto that midway. A must-see for anyone who basically grew up at Rocky Point! I'm on a mission to find more photos and even collectibles if they're around, although funny...everyone who was lucky enough to get a piece of the park before it was demolished I'm sure would NEVER put that stuff on eBay! These abandoned photographs bring tears to my eyes. I think I'll drive down there tomorrow and scope it out. I'd actually like to plan one day to get in there...just to be there again.

wow, i can't beleive it. i used to work security in the arcade room over there i remember! damn i moved a couple yrs before it closed. that place was the best, thanks motts! i still remember that one night were that one kid kept rigging the pinball machine that pissed me of so much cuz the kid tried to take all the coins in there and ended up breaking my favorite one that i always played when we were closing up that place. It was that black laggon one and i had the top 3 scores freakin' kids. sad to hear it was abandoned after i moved to haverhill new hampshire. mannn! i forgot about that place until i went looking 4 it online, and its full of coyotes now? i want to kill myself i had such a good time just sitting watching from the corner of the arcade were u usually stood if u wanted to see every thing when my job was security. well... thanks for the site motts it really brought back the memories thanks!

A great yet depressing gallery. What a damn shame, the oldest amusement park in the country had to close and is now just wasting away. At least the rides went somewhere and are hopefully being put to good use. Thanks to John Black for all the info!
Thanks Motts, I loved the gallery and the links you put on the gallery's main page!

Yet another fantastic (but also sad) set of pic's!
Shame the place went to rack n' ruin!
Cheers...

Does the arcade have any old vintage coin-operated horse rides inside that need a good home? I'll take them back to my place and fix them up and they can live with me.

Used to go there in the 70's, and it was a friendlier, more approachable park than Magic Kingdom and the big places. Always loved riding the Flume. Rode my first roller coaster there. After I got hooked on pinball when I was 9, I found the arcade there to be a rich selection and a archive of older pinball too. Chowder, clam cakes, and sliced watermelon. Whenver I'm in Rhode Island (last time in 2008), I still get the chowder and clam cakes at the place accross from TFGreen airport.
I think RP should be made a historic landmark and brought back into operation. RP meant a lot more to Rhode Islanders than Disney does to Floridians. Based on the popularity of small amusomenet rides set up at state fairs, it could do very well.

those were great. remenber what i said about zombies

remember,not remenber sorry

Jimmie I went to Disney World Summer of 2006

I think i might have a reel of rocky point in my vintage viewmaster library

@roby718-can you post those vintage Rocky Point videos here???? I would LOVE to see them!!!!!

Im only 16, and i was born the year it was shut down. What a shame, i really would have liked to visit here, my mom has very fond memories of this place. The old commercial makes it look like so much fun, im so envious of all you adults who got to go there! Seems like alot of fun!

-Looks like I have an arcade machine from the Rocky Point Arcade!
First off, many thanks for posting these pics - as I would have never known where my old machine came from!
Secondly - I'm currently restoring an Atari Pole Position (1982) - and in sanding down the bad spray-paint job, some white stenciled letters started to appear:
PROPERTY OF
ROCKY POINT
ARCADE
After a little search, I discovered where the ole-girl used to 'live'!
Can anyone confirm if they stenciled all their machine while in-use - or was this done once it was put in storage?
In any case - very fun - and many thanks for allowing me to get a little more history on the machine.

I so remember the good times here like everyone else. Parents let you run free till it was chow time and then we would all meet up and go to the Chowder hall. Could not get enough of the food!! Then it was time to go off to ride some more. Got many a sunburns back then but what a blast it was to ride and ride and ride!!

OM-Goodness. The ride that you get on, that looked like a Ferris Wheel that had a steering wheel and the cart you sat in rotated. That ride was called The Skydiver. I loved this ride for two reasons. It was the ride I met the girl who tore me apart! And the from the top of this ride at night was incredible. I wonder whet happened to this ride after the park closed and the rides were auctioned off. I want to say this ride did not sell, it was too old and worn out in the early 90's. They may have scrapped this ride. Will have to search it up again and take a look.

Thanks for changing the title of this page to what it really is. Sorry so long between visits. LOL Gotta take a stroll down memory lane again soon.

My uncle got an Aliens arcade game and a game called Battle Shark from this arcade in auction. We still play them today!

stumbled upon your site while searching the web for abandoned sites. I am a born and bred Rhode Islander with many fond memories of Rocky Point. it closed down when i was a teenager and i remember how disappointing it was. We used to go there a few times a month. I've heard over and over for years now that they were going to build condos on the site, but I found a news article (video) that says they are going to turn it into a state park area. Apparently they opened up the shoreline last year (i had no idea about that!) and are hopefully going to be opening up the rest of the area. the link to the video is http://video.turnto10....nd.htm?q=rocky+point (hope that works!). it was just documented last month. I'm interested now in checking out the current state of the area, might take a ride down there tomorrow. Thanks Mr. Motts for the awesome memories your photos have brought back of a wonderful place and a staple of my and my friends and family's past.

I've never been to Rocky Point but I'd love to see it, I wish I was around at the time it was in full swing. :/