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The Fourth of July isn't just America's 250th birthday.
It's also the 100th anniversary of Knoebels Amusement Resort, the nation's largest free-admission amusement park and one of a few longstanding parks still in the hands of a single family.
Fourth-generation co-owner-operator and president Brian Knoebel remembers growing up in the Elysburg, Pennsylvania, park as a kid in the 1970s.
"It really wasn't all that busy," he recalled. "I had a little red tractor or a big wheel, just like everybody else did, and I'd pull my little cousin around on a little wagon in the back. We'd play kickball in the middle of the park. In a 45-minute game of kickball, we would only have to stop twice to allow families to walk by."
A lot has changed since then, but here's what's stayed the same.
According to the park's website, his ancestors first acquired the tree-canopied farmland in 1828 and began welcoming visitors to a swimming hole there in 1890.
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Parts of this article read like a game of Theme Park or maybe what Theme Park was based on...
It's also the 100th anniversary of Knoebels Amusement Resort, the nation's largest free-admission amusement park and one of a few longstanding parks still in the hands of a single family.
Fourth-generation co-owner-operator and president Brian Knoebel remembers growing up in the Elysburg, Pennsylvania, park as a kid in the 1970s.
"It really wasn't all that busy," he recalled. "I had a little red tractor or a big wheel, just like everybody else did, and I'd pull my little cousin around on a little wagon in the back. We'd play kickball in the middle of the park. In a 45-minute game of kickball, we would only have to stop twice to allow families to walk by."
A lot has changed since then, but here's what's stayed the same.
Yesteryear
"Knoebels is in a grove, in a valley where two creeks come together, where we got our start," Brian said.According to the park's website, his ancestors first acquired the tree-canopied farmland in 1828 and began welcoming visitors to a swimming hole there in 1890.
After 100 years, America’s top amusement park still doesn’t charge admission
Knoebels turns 100 this Independence Day. See how much the Pennsylvania amusement park has changed and stayed the same over the past century.
Parts of this article read like a game of Theme Park or maybe what Theme Park was based on...
