Playland over time
Only two weeks after its opening on May 26, 1928, Playland amusement park in Rye, N.Y., was featured in American City & County, at the time called The American City. Then, Playland was the first government-owned-and-operated amusement park. Now, 75 years later, Playland is the only such facility. According to the article, officials of the Westchester County Park Commission were hoping that “county bonds which [had] furnished the necessary capital [would] be regarded as long-term notes with every reasonable expectation that they [would] be paid off out of earnings” with the help of attractions such as a large public bath-house and Kiddy Land. Now, many original, renovated rides — such as the Whip and Derby Racer — are still popular, and, according to Playland representatives, the park has attracted more than 1 million visitors each of the past five years. In 1984, the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and it also has appeared in the films “Big,” “Sweet and Lowdown” and “Fatal Attraction.”