By Bruce Forsyth
The Beach Strip between the cities of Hamilton and Burlington in southern Ontario has been a popular summer destination for residents seeking relief from the summer heat for more than 100 years. The Beach Strip is a 4-mile-long strip that stretches from Spencer Smith Park in Burlington to Confederation Park in Hamilton.
Paved walking and cycling trails travel along the former Canadian National Railway line that once ran past the beach, providing activity for the adults, while playgrounds at various points along the route provide entertainment for the kids.
On the Hamilton side, near Confederation Park, Lakeland Go-Carts provides entertainment for the whole family.
An almost forgotten attraction, remembered only by those 50 years of age and older who grew up in the area, is the Canal Amusement Park, situated on the Hamilton side of the shipping canal. From 1903 to 1978, the Canal Amusement Park, later re-named the Burlington Beach Amusement Park, entertained families with swings and slides, a funhouse, boats, and boathouses. Later, carousels, a roller coaster, and a Ferris wheel were added.
By the 1950s and ‘60s, numerous carnival rides and pony rides were added, as was a wooden dance floor in the Pier Ballroom, featuring talent contests with popular artists and international performers appearing. These rides weren’t the kind that you might find at Canada’s Wonderland today, but were essentially the kind that you would see at a traveling Conklin amusement carnival, except these rides never left the Beach Strip.
As it was a different time, there were no fences or security to keep people out on days when the rides weren’t operating, including the off-season. The author has fond memories back in the 1970s of going to the park on days when it was closed, using his imagination to make the rides travel faster and faster, even though they were standing still.
Prior to the opening of the Burlington Bay Skyway in 1958, the route between Niagara Falls and Toronto was Highway 2, the road that ran right past the amusement park. A lift bridge carried vehicles over the shipping canal, a bridge that was raised to allow the lake freighters to transit in and out of Burlington Bay/Hamilton Harbour. Occupants of the stopped vehicles on the Hamilton side would occasionally drop in for a quick ride at the amusement park while waiting for the bridge to be lowered again.
After the Skyway opened, allowing traffic to bypass the Beach Strip, attendance at the amusement park began dropping, but it still carried on entertaining families. It wasn’t until 1978, when the City of Hamilton declined to renew the amusement park’s lease, that it closed.
Nothing remains of the Burlington Beach Amusement Park today. It now exists only in photos, and in the memories of Burlington and Hamilton residents.
