White City Amusement Park

I want to thank Anna for posting the link to this postcard of White City Amusement Park.  Here's what I know about the park (which is precious little considering that I spent a large part of my childhood playing in it's remains).

It was on the site now occupied by Parkside Elementary School, bordered by Confederate Avenue, Mercer Street and Eloise Court.  My elderly parents still live a half block from the old lot.

The city councilman named Chosewood (I can't recall his first name) was the manager of the park.  My mother still refers to the house on Waldo at the corner of Confederate Avenue which abuts the school grounds as the "Chosewood House".

In 1914-1915 White City Amusement Park was the site of union meetings leading to a strike at Fulton Bag cotton mill in Cabbagetown (this is documented in Cliff Kuhn's book about the strike).

If any other readers have further information I'd love to post followups.

The link to the postcard is p11319.jpg (JPEG Image, 348x225 pixels).

Comments

[Amber]

Thanks! You know, I couldn't find any info about it online (with a cursory Google search, that is). Bizarre...

[Katherine]

I assume it was called the white city after the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 which was nicknamed the “White City".

I lived on the corner of Waldo and Berne and never knew this.

[Larry Felton Johnson]

Katherine,

That's my best guess, too. I've been piecing together things I'd heard earlier about the park and the Chosewoods. The house facing Waldo at Confederate with the granite columns was the old Chosewood house.
Charles Chosewwod, who was a city alderman (I'm not sure his range of years, but he was in office in 1909) lived there and managed the
amusement park.

I've received a few more pictures from postcards of White City, which I'm going to post when I get permission to attribute them to the
person who has been collecting them.

[Tracie]

By any chance was White City built on the grounds of Little Switzerland? Little Switzerland was described in the 1890 Atlanta Directory as being 150 yards from Grant's Park. It contained a lake, bowling alley, dance hall, and restaurant facilities. Here is a 1890 Atlanta Constitution write-up http://www.southernspaces.org/contents/2008/toton/1b-006-ss-06-stoton.htm