Places

Lakeside Construction Company, who planned and built Dreamland in New York City and was in the process of building White City in Chicago, purchased Manhattan Beach in 1900 in Collinwood on the Lake at Lake Shore Boulevard, a starting at the eastern end of what is now Bratenahl. The park's arched entrance faced East 140th Street. The Manhattan Beach name changed to White City, Amusement Park.

The park became transformed with the addition of various rides, theaters, and wild animal acts. In addition to swimming, attractions included a chute-the-cutes ride, a "Tokio" teahouse, and sideshows featuring such acts as Bonavita, the lion trainer, Madame Morelli, the leopard trainer, Omar Sami, and the Flying Lady and Bobby Mack and Dynamite his bucking donkey.

In the golden era of Cleveland’s amusement parks, White City Amusement Park was built to compete with the most successful Euclid Beach Park, located a mile to the east, and served by the same streetcars. The LS&MS Collinwood station at 140th street also provided convenient access. Unlike Euclid Beach, White City charged an admission fee, which hurt business.

White City Amusement Park also adopted the ideas of Coney Island’s Dreamland Park by bringing in entertainers and celebrities to draw people. Cleveland suffered from a lack of star power, and the Dreamland concept was unsuccessful.

Almost from the start, White City Amusement Park seemed plagued by several problems. One night in May 1906, during a violent electrical storm, the complex was hit by lightning and burned to the ground. Reports stated that village elders disliked this gaudy establishment on their eastern border, and the Almighty shared the dislike.

In 1907, the "Last Days of Pompeii" was staged at the park, but not for long. A terrific wind and rainstorm made Pompeii fall, volcano, and all. White City roofs blew off, and the crowd-pleasing amusement place sustained severe damage.