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In 1895, Louis Cass established the Waterloo & Cedar Falls Rapid Transit Railway. In 1896 he extended the system in Waterloo by converting the horse-car line into an electric line. In 1897 he built the line to Cedar Falls. In 1898, he made further extensions in Waterloo. In 1899, he purchased the Cedar Falls & Normal Gasoline Road which he converted into an electric line. In 1901 he built the line to Denver, Iowa. In 1902 he extended it to Denver Junction to connect with the Omaha division of the Great Western. In 1910 he extended the line from Denver Junction to Waverly. In 1912 he built the road from Waterloo to La Porte City. In 1913 he built the line from La Porte City to Urbana.

In 1914 he completed the line from Urbana to Cedar Rapids.

The WFC&N created a subsidiary company to build Electric Park. This amusement park provided much needed entertainment to the many factory workers and their families. You could ride the popular roller coaster, roll around in Barrel of Fun, or dance the night away. The WFC&N streetcars took you right to the park making transportation to the park easy.

The trolleys that ran to Cedar Rapids had open observation platforms, individual seats, and served meals! Those who used this service remember the plush cars and the speed at which it traveled (90 mph). As more and more families purchased their own vehicles, the company began losing money and made its last run to Cedar Falls in 1958.

CREDITS: John C. Hartman's History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II, 1915.

The famed Electric Park Ballroom got its start in the late 1800's, when R.E. Peterson developed a 14 acre site outside of Waterloo.� The original site included an amusement park with rides, movie house, sports garden, picnic area, fun house and a lunch counter. The concept for the ballroom did not come about until the 1930's when a fire swept through Electric Park and destroyed much of what had been built. In 1934, the "New" Electric Park Ballroom was constructed after the earlier fire.� The driving force behind the development of the famed ballroom was once again, R.E. Peterson. Also constructed was a new site for the barrel of fun and the merry-go-round, with all the property now included in the city limits of Waterloo. The likes of Jimmy Dorsey, Glen Miller, and Guy Lombardo were top draws at 25 cents a head. In the late 50's, Electric Park took to rock and roll like so many other ballrooms in the region with bookings for Conway Twitty, The Everly Brothers, Dion, Johnny & The Hurricanes and Bill Black's Combo being common. Today the ballroom is operated by The National Cattle Congress which has done a superb job with operation and upkeep on this beautiful facility. We'd all like to welcome to The Hall of Fame, the famed Electric Park Ballroom of Waterloo, Iowa, still rockin' after all these years.

Built: 1906 (fire destroyed some of structure)1936 (present structure)

CREDITS:Iowa Ballroom Project

Electric Park had a Figure 8 Roller Coaster 1908-1922. A Roller Coaster named Loop the Loop 1909-1910. A Roller Coaster named Spiral Coaster 1911-1933.