Memphis Kiddie Park

Last week I wrote about Huron Kiddieland, and expressed regret that these tiny, family-run parks have become a thing of the past, thanks to the public’s preference for the huge, mega-parks that promise much greater thrills.

The funny thing is, I forgot to mention that, locally, at least one of these small parks is still around and thriving in 2019: Memphis Kiddie Park. It’s located at 10340 Memphis Avenue in Brooklyn, Ohio (near Cleveland) and has been there since 1952.

It’s become somewhat of an institution since it has been there so long with many of the original rides, which have been lovingly maintained.

Here’s the link to the Memphis Kiddie Park website.

As the nationally distributed article below (from the Stevens Point Journal of April 20, 2000) the park caters to the "toddler and kindergarten set.” But that’s perfect for many families with very young kids for whom Cedar Point would be too big, too overwhelming – and too expensive.

Strangely enough, Memphis Kiddie Park is located a stone’s throw from my employer’s warehouse and distribution facility. When it looked for a while that we might consolidate our Cleveland operations at the Brooklyn property, I drove out there with some other company personnel to check it out, and we noticed the proximity of Memphis Kiddie Park. “Well, if we do move to Brooklyn, at least I know where I can get a corndog at lunch,” was my comment.

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While preparing this post, I found an interesting news item about Memphis Kiddie Park from August 1955. “Cops Raid Kiddie Park, Confiscate Slot Machines” was the headline of the article which ran in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette on August 1st. As the article noted, “Suburban Brooklyn police today raided the Memphis Kiddie Park and confiscated three coin machines.

“The confiscated machines were a 10-cent target device, a 10-cent baseball game and a 5-cent “earth moving game.””

The proprietor of the park said he didn’t know he was violating the law. Brooklyn Mayor John M. Coyne said a Brooklyn ordinance holds any kind of coin-operated machine illegal – even cigarette machines.

The Mayor had the funniest line of the article when he said that Memphis Kiddie Park "has developed into a Las Vegas for children.”