Have you ever visited Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, which has sat abandoned in Princeton since 1966? The park opened in 1926, when founder C.T. Snidow bought the property, according to Jeffrey Stanton, who wrote about the park for a website about abandoned amusement parks. In its heyday, the park had a dance hall, a swimming pool, rides, a concession stand, a racetrack, and cabins.
The park closed after it was the scene of the deaths of two children. One boy drowned in the park’s swimming pool, Stanton wrote. The boy’s mother dropped him off for the day and then returned later and he was nowhere to be found. She eventually found him floating in the pool, which was later filled to prevent further accidents.
The girl’s death happened while she was on the swings and a truck making a delivery backed into the swing’s path, causing her to strike it.
A former park employee bought the property in 1985 with the intention of turning the land into residential lots, but he abandoned that idea after several Native American burial sites were reportedly found there. Instead he tried to reopen the park, but it didn’t last.
The park is reportedly haunted.
Check out these creepy photos from the park.
- This old Ferris wheel.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
- A broken car from the ferris wheel.
Forsaken Fotos/Flickr
- This ride car that nature seems to be overtaking.
Forsaken Fotos/Flickr
- This eerily empty playground.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
- This rusted carousel and circle swing.
Dustin/Flickr
- This old ticket booth.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
7.This old abandoned tractor that’s clearly seen better days.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
- This car on the Ferris wheel that’s bright and almost cheerful. Almost.
Foresaken Fotos/flickr
- This old swingset, which is reportedly where a child died.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
- This Ferris wheel that looks creepy but so cool from this angle.
Tiffany Harkleroad/Flickr
- These empty, broken and rusty old swings.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
- This monument to the founder of the park, C.T. Snidow.
Tiffany Harkleroad/Flickr
- These swings that look so empty and desolate.
Tiffany Harkleroad/Flickr
- This ride car that’s almost overgrown with weeds.
Tiffany Harkleroad/Flickr
- This cash register that hasn’t collected anything but dust for a long time.
Tiffany Harkleroad/Flickr
- This lonely swing, made all the more lonely with this random toy soldier.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
- This lake, which might be the loneliest ever.
Forsaken Fotos/Flickr
What did you think of this abandoned park? Do you know of any other cool abandoned places in West Virginia? Let me know in the comments.
Foresaken Fotos/Flickr
Forsaken Fotos/Flickr
Dustin/Flickr
Foresaken Fotos/flickr
Tiffany Harkleroad/Flickr
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
