{"nrhp_refnum":"09000133","name":"Midway Park","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"NY 430","address_restricted":false,"city":"Maple Springs","county":"Chautauqua County","state":"NY","lat":42.20433103200003,"lon":-79.42029464899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-03-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Midway Park is a forty-four-acre amusement and picnic park on the east shore of Chautauqua Lake along NY 430 in Maple Springs, Chautauqua County, New York. It was developed in stages from 1898 by the Jamestown and Lake Erie Railway.","why_significant":"The park is significant for its role in recreation, tracing the evolution of a lakeside trolley and steamboat picnic ground into an amusement park. It retains a 1915 lakeside pavilion, a 1928 carousel house, a 1930 arcade, picnic pavilions and a 1950s kiddieland. Its period of significance runs from 1898 to 1960.","narrative":"Midway Park is a forty-four-acre amusement and picnic ground on the east shore of Chautauqua Lake, along NY 430 in Maple Springs. It began in 1898, when the Jamestown and Lake Erie Railway leased seventeen acres for a picnic grounds served by steamboat and rail. The name came from a dock built halfway between two older landings. In 1915 the steamship company bought the park, added twenty-seven acres and built a two-story lakeside pavilion, 200 by 100 feet, with a restaurant and bathhouse below and a skating rink and dance hall above. Rides followed, including a 1924 Jack Rabbit roller coaster and a 1928 carousel; the carousel house and a 1930 arcade survive. Picnic pavilions from the 1920s, an eighteen-hole miniature golf course and a kiddieland assembled between 1951 and 1960 reflect later growth. The park is recognized for its role in regional recreation between 1898 and 1960. It became a state park in 2006.","period_of_significance":"1898-1960","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Became a New York state park in 2006; the park is in operation with rides, though two service-area buildings are described as vacant.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.893637-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000133.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000133/a6c83eabeb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000133/a6c83eabeb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carousel_Midway_Park_Jul_12.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carousel_Midway_Park_Jul_12.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316774","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_State_Park","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6843311"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/chautauqua-county/midway-park-09000133/"}