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Life, Missouri History Today

Missouri History Today June 19, 1907: A giant swing at Kansas City’s Electric Park topples over, injuring eight.

Electric Park was an amusement park in Kansas City constructed by Joseph Heim and his brothers Michael and Ferdinand Jr. in the early 1900s. Dubbed “Kansas City’s Coney Island,” Electric Park became the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Disney World. 

The circle swing was a new attraction in 1907. After the accident in its first season it was not rebuilt.

This post was contributed by Ross Malone. A historian and a retired school teacher, Ross has authored many books about Missouri’s history, weird facts, and folk tales. He has also written children’s historical fiction. Visit his website, and buy his books in the Missouri Life store.

Photo credit: [Missouri Postcard Collection, P0032. P0032-Kansas City Parks-Electric Park-017.jpg], The State Historical Society of Missouri, Photograph Collection.

 

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