Paragon Park
I dream of Hull the way I imagine my Grandmother dreamt of her homeland in Youhal, Ireland. I have a re-occurring dream of walking the length of Hull, the way we used to as kids when we would spend all our money, including our bus fare, at Paragon Park and had no way home but to walk. I think I’m the only kid in my family, or all of Hull for that matter, who grew up when Paragon was still there and never rode on the roller coaster. I always played it safe. Not like my reckless brothers. ~ “Dreaming of Beachfront Property,” excerpted from “The Jim and Dan Stories” by Colleen Redman
Many traditional amusement parks across the country, like the one my siblings and I grew up with in Hull, Massachusetts, have gone the way of drive-inn movies, few and far between. Condos now loom where our beloved Paragon Park once stood, and there’s a shopping mall where the drive-inn theatre used to be.
We knew from an early age what cotton candy tasted like and how tall you had to be to ride on the Bumper Cars. The girls in the family all owned stuffed animals that their boyfriends won for them at the arcade games, and most of us worked at Paragon selling tickets for rides or running the games during school summer vacations… “25 cents to play, 25 cents to win” or “Don’t be shy, come on over and give it a try,” my sister, Tricia, remembers calling into a microphone at one of the game booths she worked at.
I personally remember riding the Bumper Cars, the Scrambler, the Wild Mouse, the Round-up, the Tilt-a whirl, the Teacups, the Congo Cruise (which was called “the Red Mill” when I first rode it at the age of 5), the Caterpillar, and the Ferris Wheel. I got stuck in the Kooky Castle once when the ride stopped short in its track, and the Rotor made me sick.
But I especially remember and am nostalgic for the “Giant Coaster” (see photo), once claimed to be the biggest in the world. Even though I never rode on it (for the same reason I don’t bungee jump) the roller coaster was a hometown landmark that I thought would always be there. I knew I was home when, coming back into Hull from the Washington Boulevard, I would see the roller coaster and smell the sea air at the same time.
Paragon Park was torn down sometime in the mid 1980s. The only thing remaining is the Paragon Carrousel that Hull residents had to fight to save, and the fundraising efforts to keep the carrousel in Hull continue to this day. Whenever I go home I like to ride on the carrousel, which we called “the merry-go-round” when we were kids (also seen in the photo with the rounded roof).
I got a comment on “Loose Leaf” from Jeanne at “Out and Back,” recently. “Colleen, I think I found your roller coaster in Maryland,” the comment read. I had heard before that the Paragon Park roller coaster ended up in Maryland and with a little internet research I discovered that, indeed, it is alive and well in its second incarnation at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland.
It’s called the “Wild One” now, which means, I assume, that it’s no where near ready for retirement.
Post Note: Special thanks the LoveLink, the email group of mostly family members and a few Redman family fans that I belong to, for helping me remember the names of Paragon Park rides.
August 25th, 2005 11:17 am
Hi, Michele sent me!
What a wonderful post; full of nostalgia for me, too. I remember going to Paragon Park! My parents had friends in Hull, Uncle Henry and Auntie someoneorother and we loved to visit them. The mussel picking was fun, too!
August 25th, 2005 11:22 am
Hey Colleen! We’re back from CT and MA…had a great time camping with the kids!!!
Reading this brought tears to my eyes! I believe my dad used to talk about Paragon Park. This post brought back so many childhood memories for me too. We used to go to Riverside Park in Agawam, MA. It’s now a Six Flags. I distinctly remember the smell of the river and the magical feeling walking through the gates…like walking into another world. I was afraid of the rollercoaster there too. It was an old wooden one that the cars were constantly getting stuck on the top and someone had to climb up the scaffolding to give the people a push. I eventually decided to confront my fears and did end up riding all the other rollercoasters in the park…but never that one!
My brother and dad got stuck inside the “Pirates Cove”, which was probably similar to Kooky Castle.
I miss the drive-in! I tried to talk my husband into taking the kids while we were at The Cape, but he didn’t want to go.:( He said he’s never been!
Wonderful memories!!!
August 25th, 2005 2:56 pm
Bumper cars were – and still are – the best rides. I only rode a roller coaster once when I was young and that one scared me so much that I refused to get on one ever again.
August 25th, 2005 5:10 pm
Yes, Colleen this post does bring tears to my eyes too….Oh to be young again for just ONE day.xo
August 25th, 2005 8:22 pm
What a wonderful post! I loved reading about your memories… Paragon Park had a Rotor? Oh wow… what I would give to be made sick by one of those!! Sometime you will have to come to Allentown and I’ll take you on Thunderhawk so you can have a wooden coaster experience. And don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to breathe! 🙂
August 25th, 2005 9:30 pm
Coll, I loved reading this post about good old Paragon Park. It really was a magical place and I almost forgot to mention another memory. The time you sang to the crowd “T….T….T….Tricia, beautiful Tricia, you’re the only G….G…..G…..Girl that I adore” when we came out on the stage area of the kooky castle! Remember? I also remember getting stuck in the congo cruise a lot and the boats would bump you and they would have this stick that they would use to help get you out. A couple of times people lost shoes on the skylark too with their feet dangling like they did. I use to ride the roller coaster no hands! Never was a big fan of the bumper cars though…..the steering never worked right for me. Probably has something to do with why I don’t like driving today (LOL!) Lots of great memories. xoxo
August 26th, 2005 2:40 am
Perhaps a trip to Largo, MD, would be like visiting an old friend….
Have you ever been to the Porter Square T-stop in Cambridge? It’s got a sculpture of red twirling — fans? sails? Whenever I see it I think of the Tilt-A-Whirl.
August 26th, 2005 7:26 am
Thanks for the memories Colleen. Paragon Park; it was the place of “first dates” and “first jobs.”
I’ve a book around here somewhere by Dr. Bergin (the town dentist) all about the history of the park. Did you know it used to be surrounded by water? (or part of it). Yup. Boats around the whole park. I can’t find the book right now though…it was Dan’s.
August 30th, 2005 10:26 pm
Oh my god, I remember climbing inside one of those bumper cars in Paragon Park and not being able to figure out how to make it move. (I was always mechanically challenged.) For the entire duration of the ride I was rammed mercilessly.
How about the Sugar Shack? Do you remember that?
August 30th, 2005 10:52 pm
Patry, You remember Paragon?! The Sugar Shack sounds familiar. I’ll have to consult with the Love Link. I have tried to post a comment at your site but the blogger host won’t let me!
January 23rd, 2006 11:27 am
Being from weymouth we would ride our bikes..seeing the coaster coming down that long stretch of washington blvd. i’m looking for a photo of the coaster can you help??
thank you
Scot
April 3rd, 2006 1:28 pm
I came across your posting while digging up old memories on google. I would have been five years old when Paragon Park closed in 1985. I can remember walking along a side street near the “Wild Mouse” and staring at it through the rusty chain link fence imagining what it would be like to ride. I never got to ride “the Giant Coaster” either and my last memories of the park were of the summer they systematically dismantled it piece by piece. Instead of seeing the towering tracks when we turned the corner onto Nantasket Beach we were greated with lines of flatbed trucks loaded with white timbers ready to be shipped off to this magical place called merry-land (at least that’s what I thought my parents were talking about). I have so many memories of that place pouring out of me right now. It’s funny how a simple phrase like “paragon park” can open up a porthole in your mind to things long forgotten.
August 10th, 2006 3:48 pm
I remember friday afternoons with my brothers, sister and cousins at Nantasket Beach and then into Paragon Park after 4 pm for the half price tickets. This was our fri treat thru the summer. I was sad when the park closed. The sights and smells of the beach and park are a big part of my childhood memories
August 18th, 2006 8:46 am
I have alot of Paragon Park memories, click onto my site for more!
September 11th, 2006 7:27 am
My parents moved from Astoria Street in Mattappan to 52 “A” Street in Hull back in 1968 when I was just about 12 years old. My father turned the once sandy grassy lawn into a virtual “Barden’s Garden” through the years and has become a legend in his own time! I would ride my bike to the Penny Arcade and play as much pinball as my change would allow. Was it only a dime a game? Wow! Then as time went on and a few more friends later, walking around and around and around Paragon Park all day was the ritual and right for us teenagers. What a hangout!!! My 1st job was at “Al’s Spaghetti House” washing dishes from 10pm-2am with Tim Wholley. Those days of innocense I do cherish and fondly remember. . .Hull, you’re my Hometown!!
December 31st, 2006 4:36 pm
I remember Paragon Park Used to go there near the end of the park’s life. My first really big coaster expirence came from there. I remember trying to get on the giant coaster even though I was an inch too small at the time. The operator seemed to be nursing a hangover and let me on without measuring my height. The Giant Coaster was much bigger than the Coment I used to ride at Lincoln park. It scared the life out of me and loved avery minute of it. Been riding the biggest and baddest coaster ever since.
Used to like the Bermuda Triangle too even though it was not as frighting as it was supposed to be. Remeber one of my sisters friends who was a few yours older that me used to get scared stiff on the triangle.. Used to laugh at her because it never done a thing to me. I found the haunted part rathe stupid really. i just liked the plunge at the end. Loved the Wild mouse too. Good Times!
May 21st, 2007 9:30 pm
I remember riding from Rockland through Hingham and waiting for that turn and THERE IT WAS. That giant coaster just waiting. I was 12 when I got to the front of the line and at the last minute chickened out. The next year I just casually walked on and from then on was hooked. I used to get off and get back in line. That was the greatest coaster.
July 18th, 2007 9:45 pm
I am on vacation in the D.C area. I had not ridden the Giant Coaster since the early 70’s. I had no idea it was at this Six Flags park and had no idea what it was until I read the signs as I boarded. WOW. That’s what I call going ‘back in time’
It was much more enjoyable than the other coasters at the park. The newer modern ones are too fast, and too violent, to be enjoyed. Long live the old wooden coaster!
July 18th, 2007 10:46 pm
Thanks Bob for sharing this story. It put a big smile on my face. It feels good to know that some things last and are honored by being used.
Now if we could just find the Weymouth drive-inn.
September 10th, 2007 5:52 am
Paragon Park certainly was like a Right of Passage for many of us, I’m proud to have been a member of the club!!! I never did work there, but I worked at The Surf if that counts!! And I certainly did my time at Paragon, especially the Summers of 66′, 67′, and 68. I still remember the feeling of excitement at night….the lights, the noises, the boys !!! Man, we had some good times! But it was a much more innocent era!
Then the whole experience changed to a new one with the thrill of introducing that excitement to my own children…and I got to have it all over again.Just thinking about those times makes me feel good. I had moved from Hull by the time they tore it down…I’m really glad I didn’t get to see that!!But I miss home!
Cheryl Sullivan McCormack
September 10th, 2007 5:12 pm
Great to hear from you, Cheryl! I never worked at the Park but worked at the Surf for a while also. I smile but I also feel sad that it’s gone. I miss seeing the roller coaster coming into Hull on the Washington Blvd. I still go home every year to visit my parents and now just my mother. I think the condo that stands where the Park was looks like an institution.
March 25th, 2008 6:35 pm
Glad to read that so many have such fond memories of the park.. I too have many. My father, Cliff White was the maintence foreman for 22 years and I had access to the place 12 months of the year. In the winter I spent many a day “helping” refurbish the rides, but in the summer it was another story.. I was on all of them! How many remember the “flying scooters” the roller-skating rink or the fun house with the “sugerbowl slide”? Left Hull in 1960– entered service (Navy of course!)– retired on the west coast. Will have to return at least once before I pass on. Just glad I wasn’t there when it closed or was replaced.
March 25th, 2008 8:04 pm
Hi, John. I think I remember the flying scooters. I’m very sad that it’s gone. The house that we lived in is also gone. It was taken by the town through eminent domain and a sewage plant was built in its place. http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/2007/04/the_greenhouse.html
June 28th, 2008 2:45 am
I met my husband at the roller rink at the park .He was in the air force at Westover and I was 16.We were maried 54 years.He died 2 years ago.I use to love to ride the roller coster but that bullet loking ride i rode once then never again.We also went to races over there
July 6th, 2008 3:14 pm
I lived in Hull for 12 years, on Wyola Road. Our house was in postcards if you have any that show the golf course below the roller coaster at the top left corner of the picture was my home. Many fond memories of Paragon Park, school and friends. My family would come every week-end to visit and we would spend hours at the Park.
July 6th, 2008 4:45 pm
Hi Carol, My house was HERE: http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/2005/04/sentimental_journey_continued.html
Right where the sewage plant is now. Here is a picture of it before the town took it via eminent domain. http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/2007/04/the_greenhouse.html
July 9th, 2008 7:28 am
Sorry to bother you but do you have any pictures or know where I can find some of the great ride they once had called, The Bermuda Triangle. I believe it to have been a water ride.
Thanks for your time ~ Jim
December 13th, 2008 9:24 pm
To you all who put a post on this site/blog, whatever we are calling it now a days….Thank-you for remembering!!!
I also have very fond memories of Paragon Park and still have my season pass from 1980. I had more but they got lost in the shuffle of life.
WOW What’s not to remember, My grandmother used to take my sister and I to the beach during summer vacation. We would always sneak over to the park and play the arcade games and blow all of our money. Grandma always knew because we would come back like 2-3 hours later and hungry…obviously the money was for food and a snack.
Yes “The Giant Coaster is still alive in Maryland at Six Flags. I am planning on a trip next year to ride it.
I will probably close my eyes and try to picture Nantasket Beach while riding her.
When I was old enough to ride “The Giant Coaster”, that very first day I rode it 17 times, and to this day still remember every one of those rides. And all of the rides there after, for that matter. How about the Conga Cruise, which was later the Bermuda Triangle?
We would have so much fun in that ride…..and get in trouble too. Actually had my first kiss on that ride. Wait…and second, third, and fourth one too…Ha Ha.!!!
I also remember doing the Cancer walk-a-thon evey year from Quincy Center to Paragon Park. We would start the walk at about 8:00 am and get to the park around 1 or 2, and ride the rides for the rest of the day and nite for free. I do remember going home just wasted and sun burnt.
I too can still remember all too vividly, hearing all of the screams coming from the rides while I was on the beach, or smelling all of the different smells looming around the park.
But when Colleen said she knew she was home when she saw the Coaster and smelled the sea air…..I got tears in my eyes, lump in my throat, and an empty space in my heart.
But in a good way. Paragon Park is in all of our hearts forever and she is that first girlfriend I’ll always love.
And riding the carousel (Merry-go-Round) every time I go home just helps me to remember her more.
Its too bad the kids nowa day don’t have these types of memories to look forward to.
I agree, to go back in time for a day to Paragon Park the way it was would be simply awesome.
Does anyone have a picture from Washington Blvd of the Park? Would love a copy. E-mail me if you do.
Godspeed
Jon
December 13th, 2008 11:38 pm
Hi Jon, I got all nostalgic again reading your comment. I’ll have to dig out my and my mother’s old photo albums and see if I can find some photos. Have you seen this webpage on Paragon Park memories? http://www.paragonparkmemories.com/
December 15th, 2008 11:29 pm
Hey Colleen,
Just check out the site…paragon park memories WOW!
Going back in time is really fun. How Times have changed…..!
Actually my Dad was a union carpenter on the new condos sitting in place of Paragon.
I agree that it looks like an institution.
I really miss the fun. I do remember the skating rink.
Good time there. I think there were only two skating rinks at that time. The one in Weymouth and Paragon’s. Oh and Whitman too.
I actually called my Mom ans aked her to pull out my grandmothers photo’s and see if there were any good ones of the park.
I can remember being at the beach and my grandma would dance at the Bandstand/ Pavillion. Man time goes by too fast!!
HA we used to call her a tramp because when we would get to the beach she would be flocked by all of the guys to get her to go and dance with them. Grandma was a beautiful woman.
She loved it.
Thats when you could go to the beach and stay all day long. From like 7:00 AM till like 5:00PM.
Ready for this one…..Used to love to eat at the “Clam Shack”. What was the name of the Ice-cream shop that had the best homemade ice-cream? If I remember correctly it was over by the yellow water slide. Use to go there after eating at Joseph’s for dinner. My friend used to be one of the chef’s at Joseph’s for a long time.
Fun stuff. Been going through a reminiscencing stage of life right now.
I now live in Los Angeles and there seems to be a calling every time I go home…you know with places, things, and friends/people.
But I’ll be watching this blog to hear all of the memories and adding my own as well.
Thanks to Collen for putting the great blog together.
And thanks to everyone else for sharing them.
Jon
December 15th, 2008 11:55 pm
This is an old post but people who google Paragon end up here. For the latest posts, go to the front page http://looseleafnotes.com and to read the sidebar archive on Where I’m From, click here: http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/where_im_from/ There you’ll find more posts about Hull, starting from the most recently posted ones down to some of my earliest posts.
March 15th, 2009 7:00 pm
It was the early 50’s and I about was about 11. My dad worked at “The Yard” and we lived on the Fore River in North Weymouth. On many warm summer days (if the tide was out) we would bum a ride to Nantasket. On Friday’s Paragon Park sold a strip of ten different ride tickets for a buck. We would purchase the strip and head for the main gate. At the entrance we could swap our Merry Go Round, the rocket and other somewhat wimpy ride tickets for Giant tickets. With a little hustle and clever horse trading you could end up with 6 or 7 Giant tickets.
The Giant was a great ride… So were the times…
March 15th, 2009 9:23 pm
Those were the days! My first memory was of the Jungle Cruise which was called the Red Mill I think in 1954 when I was 4, the one where you traveled in boats and road downhill with a splash.
May 27th, 2009 5:21 pm
Those were some pretty wonderful summer days, coming of age in the early sixties…and taking the Nantasket Boat with good friends from Rowe’s Wharf to Paragon. When I drove from home in Quincy I liked taking the road next to the roller coaster. And in the years since I’ve never had a hot dog as good as my first one at Nantasket Beach.
Thanks for the reminder.
June 21st, 2010 7:29 am
[…] length of Hull, the way we used to as kids when we spent all our money, including our bus fair, at Paragon Park and had no way home but to walk. I think I’m the only kid in my family, or all of Hull for that […]
September 18th, 2010 4:35 pm
I think I’ve just had a life long mystery solved! In the 1980s my grandparents lived on the shore (I don’t remember which town, I was very small and we were not close to them) and I remember seeing the park as we would drive out from western mass. I loved Riverside and Mountain Park and would BEG my dad to stop at this place. I can clearly remember seeing the roller coaster looming up and how sad I was when my dad told me to calm down, the park was closed anyway. For years I’ve wondered where this coaster was and actually started to think I imagined it! Reading this now I am SURE this was the park! Sounds like a great place, I’m sorry we never stopped 🙁
October 10th, 2010 3:38 pm
[…] years old. Before that it was Polaroids and those black and white strips from the photo booth at Paragon, our town’s amusement park. I don’t remember the camera brand or how much it cost. It […]
November 26th, 2010 10:56 am
My favorite ride was the Congo Cruise, except for the racist nature of the scray scenes the boats passed by in the tunnel. They always showed blubber-lipped Africans tossing spears, or cooking white people in pots.
Later, I guess the NAACP complained, because they changed all the scenes and the park was renamed “Deliverence!” after the movie. As you entered the tunnel, you’d hear banjo music and Burt Reynold’s voice saying “They’re building a dam on the Colahatchee River.” The first seen showed a couple of gap-toothed hillbillies dancing a jig, and you’d hear Ned Betty’s voice say “Talk about your genetic deficiencies!”
Then you’d reacha scene that showed a toothless hillbilly wearing a trucker’s hat, and pointing a shotgun your way. You’d here him say “This one’s got a real purdy mouth!” Then the final scary scene. A maniquin mounting a figure that appeared to be made of pillows. You’d here a voice saying “Squeal like a pic!” And Ned Betty’s voice responding “Wheee! Wheeeeee!” Then you’d come out of the tunnel, get pulled up the “mountain” and then released to splash land into the water below.
Now that was some scarey ride!
June 30th, 2011 12:19 am
[…] Most popular searches that have landed people on my blog this week: Collage art, Paragon Park and Primland […]
July 6th, 2012 8:34 am
Hi Colleen, I have a daughter named Colleen. I wanted to let everyone know that a play was written called Paragon Park and its starting in August 2012, its a musical at the Company Theater in Norwell Ma. Its based on our Paragon Park I am going to see it on Aug 5th . I cant wait, now that will definatley bring back alot of memories.
July 6th, 2012 8:44 am
Hey Thanks Vicky. I will pass that on!
February 19th, 2013 11:02 am
[…] when I was a four-year old girl. She carried me around, bought me ice cream and took me to Paragon Amusement Park in a new red dress. She basically made a big deal out of me, which was a big deal because I came […]
March 24th, 2013 1:17 pm
Nantasket is relatively quiet now without the noises of Paragon Park but for those of us that grew up there summers they will forever occupy our minds and our memories. We were living what I think were the greatest times of our lives and we knew it. ——-Danny Sordello
March 24th, 2013 4:14 pm
I agree, Danny. Here’s a clip from an old Paragon Park ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Pb4uTZud8
July 23rd, 2015 1:00 pm
[…] Colleen Redman / Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads – Read more about Paragon Park in Hull, MA, which was torn down in the mid ’80s HERE. […]
March 9th, 2016 4:03 pm
Colleen, hope you and your readers have a chance to visit the Paragon Park museum, which the Friends of the Paragon Carousel opened two years ago. We will open in June, and our mission is to bring back some of those great memories!
March 9th, 2016 10:55 pm
I can’t wait to see it. Is it located at the site, by the Carousel?
April 6th, 2016 7:09 pm
[…] I just saw a video on “How to Parallel Park,” which made me think of the amusement park in the town I grew up with and the question “How to Paragon Park?” You just pull in and have […]
August 24th, 2016 8:34 pm
[…] from auction by investors and then purchased by The Friends of the Paragon Carousel in 1996. HERE is my 2005 post about Paragon Park, which received over 40 comments from park fans and […]
December 27th, 2020 12:53 pm
THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT ANYONE THAT WAS A REGULAR AT PARAGON PARK IN THE 1950’S OR 1960’S WOULD TELL YOU THAT THE MOST THRILLING RIDE IN THE PARK WAS ‘THE FLYING SCOOTERS’ ON A WINDY DAY. THAT WAS THE RIDE THAT DROVE THE OWNER OF THE PARK (LARRY)AND THE MANAGER OF THE BACK END(Ross) absolutely crazy when they caught us on the ride snapping the cables. I would give anything to re-live some of those days, if even for a short time.—–Danny Sordello.