Just ten years previously, this exotic site had been a rustic old dairy farm. Charles Schifferdecker purchased the land and leased ten acres to three businessmen, who constructed an amusement park -- the Electric Park, so-named because of the 40,000 incandescent bulbs installed on its structures. The Electric Park, which cost $150,000 to build, featured rides, sideshows, animal exhibits, musical performances, concessions, and souvenir stands. The 4th Street entrance arches to Schifferdecker Electric Park spanned a width of 132 feet. Other amenities included a skating rink, boating lagoon, and swimming pool. The "German Village " beer garden paid tribute to the park's namesake Charles Schifferdecker, a German native who began his career in the brewing trade. Although built two miles west of downtown, the Electric Park was easily accessible, by means of the double track trolley line constructed by the Joplin and Pittsburg Railway Company. Over 12,000 attended the Electric Park's grand opening on June 10, 1909. This was the largest crowd that had ever gathered in the district. Twenty railroad cars transported them to and from the "Coney Island of the Missouri-Kansas mining district " as the Joplin Globe called it. The park spread over approximately four city blocks, from 4th to 6th Streets, Park View to Schifferdecker Avenues. Although many of the buildings and structures remained, the "Coney Island " of the district closed as an amusement park in 1912. It simply could not sustain the daily dollars needed to run an operation of that magnitude. The average miner or laborer could not afford both the admission price and the trolley fare to get there. Charles Schifferdecker had leased the Electric Park to the Joplin and Pittsburg Railway Company, but in 1913 he took back his claim, then deeded 40 acres of it to the City of Joplin. He stipulated that it be used perpetually as a free public park. By August 1914, the City had assumed total operation of Schifferdecker Park, which became the fourth park integrated into the City's park system. The City tore down the tower and the amusement rides. It also made improvements to the dance hall and swimming pool and installed playground equipment and a baseball diamond. Charles Schifferdecker was the proverbial "self-made man." In 1869, the poor 18-year-old left his family home in Baden, Germany to seek a better life in America. He started out in the brewing business in Joplin. Though his career in brewing was successful, young Charles made his fortune in mining and banking ventures. By 1887, the wealthy businessman even went to the White House for a private audience with President Grover Cleveland. When Schifferdecker died October 30, 1915, the entire city shut down for his funeral. A generous philanthropist, he once stated that he wished he knew when he would die so he could give away all his fortune and die penniless. The name of Charles Schifferdecker lives on in the park that bears his name. In 1922, Joplin Mayor Taylor Snapp paid tribute to the man whose gift of a fine park to the City had "gladdened thousands of hearts." Yet this was not the first park to bear his name. In 1876, the German entrepreneur had purchased acreage on Turkey Creek east of Joplin, where he operated Turkey Creek Brewery. He opened Schifferdecker Gardens, a beautiful natural park, where people came to picnic and to enjoy the lush surroundings. They could also quaff some of Schifferdecker's beer, brewed from natural spring water and cooled in nearby caves. Nothing of this first Schifferdecker park remains.

CREDITS: EXCERPTS: Joplin City Library