Seabreeze Amusement Park

Seabreeze features a complete amusement park and water park with something for everyone! The amusement park is home to a variety of roller coasters and rides, food concessions, midway games, an arcade, a museum, live entertainment, and picnic areas. The water park features a variety of waterslides, a lazy river, spraygrounds, a wave pool, sunbathing areas, a bathhouse, a retail location, and food outlets.

Seabreeze Amusement Park began its life as Sea Breeze Grove, opening for business on August 5, 1879, when the first train of picnickers arrived at the park on the newly built Rochester & Lake Ontario Railroad. More commonly known as the Bay Railroad, the 6.05-mile-long steam line was built specifically for the purpose of transporting passengers from a depot in Rochester, located at the intersection of Portland Avenue (then North Avenue) and Bay Street. The railroad was an instant success and had more business than it could handle right from the start

The park at that time did not feature amusement park rides. Instead, it featured beautifully landscaped grounds with paths for strolling, a pavilion that had a refreshment and cigar stand, a dancing platform, and picnic groves. The park was situated on the most picturesque bluff in the area and the masses came to Sea Breeze to enjoy the scenery, cool lake breezes, and entertainment which included concerts and vaudeville acts. A baseball diamond and field, located in the picnic groves, hosted athletic events for local sport teams as well as for picnickers. So popular was Sea Breeze that a local pastor took to the Democrat & Chronicle, lamenting the fact that the Bay Railroad trains were full while the church pews were empty. This was quickly remedied by holding church services in a tent, located on park grounds, so that people could visit Sea Breeze and fulfill their religious obligations as well.

A hotel, whose primary purpose was for entertaining, was built in the park in 1885. Called the Pavilion Hotel, it operated for only three seasons before being lost to fire. Not to be deterred, the Bay Railroad constructed a new hotel in 1888. Also called the Pavilion Hotel, it featured a large dining area with a stage. Vaudeville acts, concerts and special events were often held there.

The earliest amusement rides at Sea Breeze were not located in the park proper, but rather in the amusement resort area that surrounded it. In 1886, Joseph Stahley, a proprietor of one of the nearby hotels, built a roller coaster. Frank Moore operated a track carousel on the lakefront. And people came and went throughout the day, taking the trains or steamboats to and from Sea Breeze.

A tragic train wreck in 1899 left the Rochester & Lake Ontario Railroad in bankruptcy. A new company, the Rochester & Suburban Railway Company, set out to modernize the railroad and park in 1900. They converted the steam railroad into an electric trolley line and upgraded the park facilities. Free acts were performed daily on the lawn, drawing tens of thousands of people to the already popular park. The new company adopted a new business model, allowing concessionaires to set up shop in the park, and in 1901 Sea Breeze Grove was renamed Sea Breeze Park, ushering in a new era of growth.

The first permanent ride, a Figure 8 roller coaster, was added to the park in 1903. Other new attractions that year included a laughing gallery, featuring mirrors that distort your image, and a zoo in the picnic grove. In 1904, George Long, Sr. brought his family's carousel to Sea Breeze. And in 1906, a Circle Swing ride opened by the Pavilion Hotel. The Figure 8 roller coaster was removed at the end of the 1915 season and a new coaster, the Dips, was built. The Dips featured faster speeds and steeper drops.

At the end of the 1919 season, it was announced that the nearby Ontario Beach Park, always the star amusement park of the area, would close its gates forever. During the next decade, significant efforts were undertaken to transform Sea Breeze Park into a spectacular and nationally recognized amusement center.  This included the addition of new attractions, renovations to the grounds, and updating park facilities.  For 1920, a water ride called the Old Mill opened adjacent to the newly built Jack Rabbit roller coaster.  Over the ravine, the largest open-air dancing pavilion in Western New York State, Dreamland, was constructed.  And for the young ones, a new miniature railroad.  An ornate refreshment pagoda adorned the midway by these newest attraction.  The new attractions were well-received and record crowds came to the park.  For 1921, a new thriller called the Virginia Reel was built adjacent to the Dips roller coaster at the north end of the park.  At the south end of the park, a modern Circle Swing ride called the Airplane Swing opened alongside a state-of-the-art bumper car ride called Dodgem.  In 1922 a Whip ride was added along with a fun-house attraction under Dreamland called Hilarity Hall.  In 1923, with free acts being as popular as they were, a beautiful new stage was built to accommodate larger acts.  By this time the park has been proclaimed "The Park of Rides," as aggressive expansion continued.

On the night of August 26–27, 1923, a fire broke out in the tunnel of the Old Mill and the south end of the park went up in flames.  Lost were the Old Mill, Dreamland Dance Hall, Hilarity Hall and portion of the Jack Rabbit roller coaster.  The largest crowds of the season came the weekend following the fire as curious excursionists wanted to see the ruins first-hand.  By the time they arrived, crews had already gone to work cleaning up the debris and by 1924 the lost portions of the park had been rebuilt. When the park opened for the new season, a new dance hall, Danceland, was built adjacent to Jack Rabbit's second hill. A new entrance to the rebuilt Old Mill was located under the Jack Rabbit lift hill, and the coaster featured a larger and reconfigured station. A Caterpillar ride was also installed.

Perhaps one of the most interesting attractions to be built at Sea Breeze Park was the Natatorium, a giant salt-water swimming pool constructed at the south end of the park. Said to be 99.9% pure, the pool featured water that was heated to 72-degrees, was salted to match the salinity of the water in the Atlantic Ocean, and was purified and filtered using a system of ultra-violet rays and sand filters. The facility featured clean locker rooms with 6,500 free lockers, 800 stainless-steel changing booths, and shower and toilet facilities. At the south end of the complex there was a stage that hosted vaudeville acts and concerts daily. The north end featured a restaurant, lounge, and the sanitation plant which was open for tours. The pool could accommodate 5,000 bathers at a time, with water ranging from one- to five-and-a-half-feet in depth. A deep section in the middle, which was ten feet deep, had spring boards and diving platforms. The facility was run by Charlotte Boyle Clune, 1920 Olympic Swimming champion, whose employment was an attraction in and of itself. She and her staff offered swimming lessons, swimming and diving exhibitions, and ran a top-notch operation well known for its safety. Special attractions in the Natatorium that came and went included sun-tanning lamps, a water wheel, water whip and toboggan ride.

• Official Seabreeze website
• NAPHA FAQ listing historical parks and rides
• Seabreeze Amusement Park at the Roller Coaster DataBase