Funtown Amusement Center, once a vibrant fixture in Atlanta during the 1960s, stood along 20 acres of Stewart Avenue across from Zayre Department Store—now known as Metropolitan Parkway. The park offered a variety of attractions, including rides like the Wild Mouse roller coaster, Crazy Dazy, Kiddie Whip, a Ferris wheel, and a real 1865 steam train. It opened May 27, 1961.
The park opened at 2pm Monday – Friday, 12 noon on Saturday – Sunday. The arcade was the largest in Georgia. They had miniature cars, Crazy Cups ride, Flying Cages ride, Dodgem ride, Octopus ride, two 19-hole miniature golf courses, they advertised cotton candy, huge hot dogs and hot buttered popcorn. FunTown had a 70 foot rocket that would take the rider on a simulated trip to the moon, river boats that you would self paddle, free magic shows, and free concerts with rock, country, western, and gospel performers. Funtown had an Animal Kingdom called Friendly Animals, where kids could feed deer, donkey, llama, goats, burros, etc.
I found these photos of me and my parents at Funtown (July 1962)
“Snooky” Lanson1 and son on Helicopter ride. He was a famed television personality and WLW-A star.
They had helicopters, river boats, “Jet” transportation (a jet slide), Umbrella ride, Flying Coaster, Tilt-a-Whirl, Wild Mouse and Water Scamp rides. The facility had picnic areas, Free Admission, Free parking, lounge accommodations at the Train Station, snack bars, novelty stands, and restaurants.
They had the Whacky Shack – a topsy turvy house, a model raceway game, Trabant ride2, Sky Fighter, Scrambler, Ski Jump, Hot Roads ride, and Dolly the Whale. Country music guests Ray Pillow – of the Grand Ole Opry, Red Jones and the Country Gentlemen, TV’s Billy Johnson3, Mickey Mouse, Jenny Russell – Miss Disco-Tea, Folk artists like Susan Christie4, Rock and Roll like The Kingsmen (“Louie, Louie”), and Battle of the Bands every Saturday.
Beyond the rides, visitors could enjoy a miniature golf course, batting cages, a bowling alley (72 lanes), and a bustling midway filled with carnival games and food stalls. Despite its popularity among many Atlantans, Funtown became a symbol of racial segregation. In his 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. poignantly described the pain of explaining to his six-year-old daughter why
she couldn’t visit Funtown due to its whites-only policy. This reference highlighted the broader injustices of segregation and underscored the park’s role in the civil rights discourse. The park’s refusal to integrate,
coupled with the opening of Six Flags Over Georgia in 1967, led to its decline. Funtown closed that same year, selling off many of its rides. While the miniature golf course and bowling alley remained operational for some time, the main park area fell into disrepair. By the 1980s, the site was overgrown, with remnants of rides and structures overtaken by nature.
Funtown’s legacy is multifaceted. For some, it evokes memories of childhood fun and community gatherings. For others, it stands as a reminder of the era’s racial inequalities. The park’s story reflects both the joys of mid-20th-century amusement culture and the societal challenges of its time.
Footnotes
- Snooky Lanson, born Roy Landman on March 27, 1914, in Memphis, Tennessee, was an American singer best known for his role on the television program Your Hit Parade. He began his musical career with Francis Craig’s dance band in the late 1930s and gained prominence as the “boy singer” for Ray Noble’s orchestra, appearing in several Soundies musical films in the early 1940s . Lanson became a household name when he replaced Frank Sinatra on Your Hit Parade in 1950, remaining with the show until 1957 . After the show’s conclusion, he continued performing in nightclubs and hosted television variety shows in cities like Atlanta and Shreveport . In his later years, Lanson resided in Nashville, where he hosted a syndicated radio show featuring big-band music and worked in sales . He passed away on July 2, 1990, at the age of 76 ↩︎
- The Trabant is a classic amusement ride developed by Chance Rides in the early 1960s, characterized by its spinning, tilting, and undulating motion that delivers a thrilling yet accessible experience for riders. The ride features a large, circular platform with outward-facing seats arranged around its edge. As the ride operates, the platform spins while simultaneously tilting and oscillating, creating a dynamic wave-like motion. This combination of movements subjects riders to centrifugal forces and a sense of weightlessness, making it a popular attraction at various amusement parks and fairs. The Trabant has been known by several names, including “Mexican Hat,” “Wagon Wheel,” and “Wipeout,” and has been featured in numerous parks, such as Michigan’s Adventure, where it debuted in 1989 . Its enduring appeal lies in its ability to provide a moderate thrill suitable for a wide range of ages ↩︎
- Billy Johnson was a pioneering children’s television host in Washington, D.C., during the early years of the medium. He began his career in 1949 at WLW-D in Dayton, Ohio, and later became known for his morning kids’ show on WTOP-TV 9. However, in 1956, his program was displaced by the nationally broadcast Captain Kangaroo. The following year, Johnson transitioned to WTTG-TV 5, where he served as a staff announcer and hosted various shows, including The Big Movie and Countdown Carnival. It’s important to note that this Billy Johnson is distinct from another local TV personality, Bill Johnson, who also worked at WTTG-TV 5 and WMAL-TV during the same era. The two were often confused due to their similar names, but they had different roles and appearances—Billy was typically seen with a guitar, while Bill was known for his announcing duties. Billy Johnson’s contributions to early television helped shape the landscape of children’s programming in the Washington, D.C., area. ↩︎
- Susan Christie is an American singer-songwriter from Philadelphia, best known for her 1966 novelty hit “I Love Onions” and her long-lost 1970 psychedelic-folk album Paint A Lady. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Christie first gained attention with “I Love Onions,” a playful, kazoo-accented tune that reached #63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a cult favorite. Despite this early success, her more ambitious work—Paint A Lady, recorded with her husband and collaborator John Hill—was shelved by Columbia Records for being too uncommercial, with only a few vinyl copies made. The album remained unreleased until 2006, when it was rediscovered and acclaimed for its eerie, genre-blending sound, earning Christie renewed attention as a lost gem of 1970s folk-psych. She later performed at the 2007 “Lost Ladies of Folk” concert in London and contributed to several collaborative projects. ↩︎
Further Reading
Sources
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution News “Flashback Photos: The ruins of Funtown Amusement Center” https://www.ajc.com/news/local/flashback-photos-the-ruins-funtown-amusement-center/pal0PkdzCKvtyzsRwuAaNN/
- Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/
- The Atlanta 100 “Short-Lived Fun in Funtown” https://theatlanta100.com/history/2016/10/19/short-lived-fun-in-funtown/12804
- Digital Library of Georgia “Funtown Amusement Center in ruins, Atlanta, 1981” https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gsu_ajc_11885?canvas=0&x=1056&y=1623&w=6167
