Titley Park

Titley Park is an amusement park located in the Malton suburb of Peppardville. Though essentially popular from its inception up until the early 1990s, the park fell into a state of functioning disrepair, falling on hard times and being bought out and sold by a number of companies.

History

Titley Park Peppardville [78,44] The MacKenzie Arms Scorse Cinema Heritage Lane Hoyle Street Titley Park The Higgdon Building Mussell Way Russell Row a carpark

In the early 1900s Titley Park was a grove of orange trees owned by Kenny Titley, a real estate developer who was instrumental in the development of east Malton, and later the redevelopment of buildings damaged in the Great Fire of 1912. Due to its picturesque landscape, placid lake and proximity to Malton's main trolley hub, "Titley's Park" soon became a popular picnic spot for everyone from trolley commuters to tourists visiting the Kitchingman Monument to soldiers wanting to escape the mundane confines of Fort Creedy. In 1918 German entrepreneur Casper Gauss approached Titley with the possibility of a business partnership that would enable both men to profit from a carousel being put on the grounds; Titley thought it was a great idea and the following February the carousel was opened to the public. Within a year Titley and Gauss, inspired by the success of the carousel, decided to expand into making more rides. A ferris wheel was added in 1921, and in 1924 the park's signature ride, a wooden roller coaster dubbed "White Thunder", was opened to the public. The 1930s saw additional rides such as The Whip and a restored turn-of-the-century locomotive, which was imported from Spain.

Casper Gauss died in 1934 in a tragic moped accident, and left his stake in the park's rides to his son, Heinrich. Once established as an amusement park in 1938, Titley and Heinrich Gauss sold it to Darien Amusements, so that Titley could retire. Heinrich Gauss would continue to be a chief officer of the park up until 1977. Though popular, Titley Park was not as profitable as Darien Amusements had expected, so the park was bought and sold to several different owners over the next forty years, each having a differing vision of the direction the park should go in. Throughout this time period several more rides were added, including the Ghost House, Firefly, the Log Jammer and the Screamer, the latter being another wooden roller coaster.

After an unexpected downturn in park attendance, Media giant Higgdon, Inc., purchased the park in 1984, and began planning a new roller coaster that would breathe new life into the park. Unfortunately, due to poor business practices, Higgdon, Inc. was forced to sell off most of its assets, including the park, and was bankrupt the following year. The Iron Imp, a steel roller coaster with four inversions opened to great fanfare in 1991, four years after its original target date. The park continued to be bought and sold, though none of the park's owners felt the need to invest much into the park, and it began to look dilapidated, though it was still open to the public. By the late 90s the park's rides paled in comparison to those offered by other amusement and theme parks, and the park began to only remain open during the summer.

In 1987 the park, as well as the carousel, ferris wheel and White Thunder, were all designated national landmarks.

The Outbreak

In the summer of 2005 the outbreak had spread its way through Malton, and the park was forced to shut down for the safety of its employees and guests. Several Titley Park employees banded together in order to keep the area safe from the undead, and occasionally would restore power to the park to allow survivors to enjoy its many attractions. This, however, tends to draw a heavy undead presence to the park, so riders are encouraged to "keep [their] hands, arms, feet and legs inside the ride at all times, and hold on to [their] personal belongings, especially pistols and shotguns, because they'll need them to leave the park".