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Main Entrance
Eden
Springs Aviary & Zoo
Israelite
bands were often to be seen and heard around the colony’s buildings and
soon the colonists found a crowd of non-members hanging around on weekends
to hear the bands play. A bandstand and a large birdhouse
to the north of Bethlehem were built to entertain their
"Gentile" visitors. They also constructed an ice cream
parlor, where the waffle cone is said to have been created.
By
1907 the crowds drawn to the
Ice Cream Parlor became so large that they
began to get in the way of their daily living. The business
needed to be relocated away from their private dwellings. Land to
the immediate south of the existing colony was purchased from the Eastman Springs Company.
In 1907 Benjamin
Purnell announced plans to develop an amusement park in the large
area which is now located between Britain and Empire Avenues in
Benton Harbor, Michigan. The park opened in 1908 and during its long
impressive history included a zoo with lions, tigers and bears, miniature
train rides, an aviary where peacocks roamed freely, live music and
entertainment, the birth of the waffle cone and numerous other
attractions.
Your tour begins here at the Southside
main entrance located off of what is now Empire Avenue, Benton Harbor,
Michigan. In the past, you could travel by boat
and ride buses and
street cars
to the park. From the main
entrance you could get train tickets and have dinner
and stay at the Hotel and Vegetarian Restaurant.
You could also
enter the park from the north side train station on
Britain Avenue.
From here you could walk East past the Train Station and Restaurant and enter the
Gardens, Zoo & Aviary
"The south depot was the arrival
point for most visitors to the park. There was also an earlier
version of the south depot. The depot was ringed by cottages, a
baseball park, zoo, restaurant and hotel. Inside the
depot were souvenir stands and an ice cream parlor. On the east side
of the depot was a hopper and water tank for the replenishment of coal and
water for the miniature engines. Once refueled the trains would
depart on their return trip through the zoo, over the east
trestle, past
more tourist cabins and the Diamond House to the
north depot on Britain Ave. "( Israelite House of David website)
"As you entered the zoo you would find a row of bird
cages on your left or the South side or near the ravine. There
were parrots, small birds, eagles, cockatoos, peacocks and emus.
There were three people who had charge of the zoo - Tapping, Billy
Harrison and Chic Bell. Mr. Tapping was associated with the birds in
the beginning." ( Israelite House of David website)
The zoo also included alligator ponds,
kangaroos a monkey house & sea lion Lion and Tiger cages were opened in 1908 and closed in 1945. The animals were sold to the
The Lincoln Park
Zoo in Chicago.
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