Kennywood Park
West Mifflin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
A National Historic Landmark, designated 1987. In 1898 a picnic grove on Anthony Kenny's farm here was leased to the Monongahela Street Railway Co. for an amusement park linked to Pittsburgh by its trolley line. Sold to private interests in 1906, the park was to survive a Depression, recessions, and two World Wars. Years after most other "trolley parks" had closed, Kennywood was still thriving.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Kennywood began in 1898 as a leafy picnic grove on Anthony Kenny's farm, leased by the Monongahela Street Railway to draw riders out along its trolley line—a classic "trolley park" of the era. Passed to private owners in 1906, it outlasted the Depression, recessions, and two World Wars while nearly all its trolley-park peers vanished. Its endurance earned it status as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Why it matters
Kennywood is one of the last living examples of the trolley park, the streetcar-fed amusement grounds that shaped American leisure at the turn of the twentieth century.
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Related people
- · Anthony Kenny
Themes & tags
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