The Park was situated on Harvey’s Lake the largest natural lake in Eastern Pennsylvania on what was once the Lehigh Valley Railroad Picnic Grounds. Some of the early attractions at the picnic grounds included a dance hall, carousel, arcade, bowling alley, a small roller coaster, miniature railroad, swimming beach, and a Shoot-the-Chute.

In the 1920’s other attractions added to the park included a Shooting Gallery, Restaurant, Bingo, a Penny Arcade, and Dodgem. John A. Miller and Oscar E. Bittler built a sixty-five foot high roller coaster called the "Speed Hound" in the early 1930’s. A Pretzel dark ride was added in 1934, which later became Pirate’s Cove.

Don Hanson’s father purchased the park in the mid 1930’s. He added a new bathhouse to the beach with a roller skating rink on its second floor. Some of the other activities around that time at the picnic grounds were boat races, diving shows, swimming races, and airplane stunt shows over the lake. Another activity added to the park around the end of the 1930’s were speedboat rides.

In the 1940’s more rides and attractions were added to the park including a Ferris Wheel, Whip, Twirler, Flying Scooter, and a new miniature railroad. Hanson’s Drive In Theater was built in 1948 at the back of the park. It operated for a period of only three years.

A kiddie land was also built that opened in 1950 including boats, fire engines, pony carts, a miniature whip, and the Starlight Express a small wooden children’s roller coaster.  

Throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s Hanson’s second floor dance hall hosted such local bands as Joe Nardone and the All Stars, and Eddie Day and TNT. Some national performers who performed at the dance hall included Chubby Checker, Bobby Goldsboro, the Supremes, and Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons. This attracted a whole new generation of visitors to Hanson’s Amusement Park.

Crowds and interest in the park continued to decline through the 1970’s, and early 1980’s. In 1980 the "Speed Hound" roller coaster was structurally damaged. This impacted adversely upon the parks ability to draw a crowd. Camping was later added to attract more business to the park. Sadly the park closed after the 1984 season, and the park's contents were auctioned off at that time. The picnic grounds shortly after became home to the Bud Light Amphitheater.

Click on the photos for a larger view
Please note photos are copyrighted, do not copy without permission

Boat House	Boats	Sign
Hanson's Boat 1	Hanson's Boat 2	Camping Area 1	Camping Area 2
Hanson's truck	Carousel 1	Carousel 2	Tilt-A-Whirl
Train 1	Train 2	Train 3	Scrambler
Firetrucks	Kiddie Whip	Flying Scooters	Horse and Carriage
Kiddie Boats	Kiddie Cars	Kiddie Coaster	Kiddie Tanks
Rotoscooter Bumper Cars	Ferris Wheel 1	Ferris Wheel 2	Ferris Wheel 3
General Park Scenes
Park View 1	Park View 2	Park View 3	Park View 4
Truck under coaster	Penny Arcade	Snack Stand	Restrooms
Picnic Area 1	Picnic Area 2	Picnic Area 3	Picnic Area 4
Parking Area	Stage	Ticket Booth	Midway
The Roller Coaster
Roller Coaster 1	Roller Coaster 2	Roller Coaster 3	Roller Coaster 4
Roller Coaster 5	Roller Coaster 6	Roller Coaster 7	Roller Coaster 8
Roller Coaster 9	Roller Coaster 10	Roller Coaster 11	Roller Coaster 12
Roller Coaster 13	Roller Coaster 14	Roller Coaster 15	Roller Coaster 16
Roller Coaster 17	Roller Coaster 18	Roller Coaster 19	Roller Coaster 20
The Pretzel dark ride
Dark Ride Outside	Dark Ride Inside	Dark Ride Mural	Dark Ride Wall
Dark Ride Stunt 1	Dark Ride Stunt 2	Dark Ride Stunt 3	Dark Ride Stunt 4
Postcards
Flying Scooters	Roller Coaster	Ferris Wheel

As a kid I would get to go to Hanson's, and Sandy Beach in July on a picnic for my birthday. I recall spending time in the penny arcade. It was located in the corner of the park by the Ferris Wheel in the early 1960's. It contained arcade card, claw, and crank movie machines along with other games of skill.

The view of the lake from the lift hill of the roller coaster was great! It was an out and back coaster that ran from one side of the park to the other. The other end of the coaster had a sharp turn around in the trees, and the return ride had some small hills good for some air time with slight tilts in the track. This made the return trip more fun. The ride ended with a sharp turn to the right on the break run returning to the station. In later years it was sad to see this ride sit idle and in need of repair when I took my own kids to the park.

I also use to enjoy the pontoon boat rides on the lake on a sunny summer's day. It offered a great view of the park from the lake. It was a tame ride, but if you did not have a boat it was a good way to see the lake. 

F. Charles Petrillo for a better understanding of the early history of Hanson’s Amusement Park as provided through his book about Harvey’s Lake (a book I wish was still in print)!

B. Derek Shaw for permission to use information contained in his article about this park published in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Newspaper in 1982

Wyoming Valley Historical Society as a reference source for the some of the information contained in this article

Donald, and Lillie Looker for earlier photos of Hanson’s Amusement Park contained in these pages

Joel Styer for hosting these pages, photos, and memories

Special thanks go to Don Hanson, his wife Shirley, and others for a source of family entertainment and fun for so many years. Many of the black and white pictures contained in these pages were taken after the contents of the park were auctioned off, and being dismantled for removal in 1984. Little did Don realize at that time when he gave me permission to take these pictures that they would be shared with so many others on the Internet to preserve memories of a great little family park now gone.

If you wish to share any additional information, photos, and memories about this and other parks in Northeastern Pennsylvania please send email to Info@defunctparks.com

Additional notes by Joel Styer

The coaster was a John Miller "Deep Dips" style

* Remains. It is currently unclear what is left of the park. I have been told that the Roller Coaster has been demolished but this has not been confirmed. It is likely a few buildings still stand but that is about all. A sad ending to what was once a great park.