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Reported by us | Dartmouth

Lincoln Park in Dartmouth: from a 10-cent trolley ride to the Comet and the ballroom

An SC360 Special on the park halfway between Fall River and New Bedford, from the 10-cent trolley ride of about 1910 to the day the Comet came down in 2012.

By the SC360 Community Desk | Published Nov. 10, 2026 | Last verified Nov. 9, 2026, 10:41 a.m. ET

DARTMOUTH For a dime and half an hour on the trolley, a rider leaving Fall River City Hall around 1910 could step off at Lincoln Park in North Dartmouth, in a pine grove halfway to New Bedford.

The guidebook Trolley Trips Through New England, whose maps carry a 1910 copyright, listed the trip at 10 cents and 30 minutes from Fall River and 10 cents and 25 to 30 minutes from New Bedford. Its writer rode "a car of the 'Gee Whiz Railway,' as this line is termed in the vernacular," through the Narrows between the Watuppa Ponds to the "yellow-and-green buildings" of the park, and summed the place up this way: "This, midway between Fall River and New Bedford, is a great pleasure ground of the people."

Lincoln Park lasted 93 years, long enough for one New Bedford couple to go on dates there and later bring their daughter, The Boston Globe reported, and it closed in December 1987. Apartments and single-family homes stand on the land now, and the carousel is at Battleship Cove in Fall River.

A picnic ground on the trolley line

The Union Street Railway Co. opened the park in 1894 as a picnic ground, The Boston Globe reported in 2012, and the Fall River Reporter wrote in 2018 that it began with picnic tables, grill stoves and a playground. It was known first as Midway Park or Westport Park, WBSM reported in 2022, and the name Lincoln Park was chosen by lottery.

A 1928 rotogravure in the New Bedford Free Public Library shows the company's employee outing of 1903 at the park, with rows of the men who "directed the trolleys and collected the fares," and the library's record lists Lincoln Park among the company's holdings. A photograph in the trolley guide, captioned Lincoln Park, shows a long, low building beside the tracks with trees behind it.

The Comet and the ballroom

John Collins and Associates bought the park in the early 1940s for $40,000, according to the Fall River Reporter and the Lincoln Park Comet Fan Site, whose timeline dates the sale to 1941. More rides came in that decade along with a roller skating rink and a bowling alley the Reporter put at 14 lanes, and the dance hall already on the grounds was later named the Lincoln Park Ballroom, WBSM reported.

The Comet was a 3,000-foot wooden coaster that climbed to 65 feet and reached 55 mph, designed by Edward Leis and Vernon Keenan of the National Amusement Device Co. and built for $80,000, the Globe reported. The Globe gives 1947 as the year it was built, while the Roller Coaster DataBase and the fan site give 1946.

Alan Souza of Westport, who was 68 when he spoke to the Globe in 2012, said he rode it only now and then. "Not very often, I wasn't that brave," he said. "Of course in those days, that was quite a ride. Going up the hill [you'd hear] 'clack, clack, clack, clack.'" Scott Almond of New Bedford, then 52, told the paper he worked the Comet's controls in the 1970s. "It was exciting, trying to stop that, basically by hand-pressing down" a series of bars as the ride ended, he said.

A photograph shared with the Mass. Memories Road Show, in the collection at UMass Boston, places the Gene Marshall Band at the Lincoln Park Ballroom on Jan. 20, 1945, with Jimmy Wolstenholme at the piano and Marshall standing among the 13 people pictured. The Globe wrote that the ballroom once hosted performances "ranging from Buddy Holly to the Three Stooges," and Battleship Cove's own history of the carousel counted Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy among the park's guests.

Charity and civic events were held at the park as well. Catalog records for photographs by E. Milton Silvia, held by Spinner Publications and listed in Digital Commonwealth, date the Bishop's Annual Charity Ball at Lincoln Park to Jan. 5, 1964, the Kiwanis Flower Show to March 28, 1965, and a Rotary Club lunch to April 17, 1966.

The everyday park shows up in the catalog notes for Ten O'Clock News footage shot there on Aug. 18, 1982, which list children on the merry-go-round, the Monster Ride, the Pirates Den, the Jet Flyer, the roller coaster, the children's train ride, Humpty Dumpty and the Chocolate Dip ice cream stand. Souza told the Globe that his fondest memories included clambakes and roller skating, and he remembered field trips to the park as a fifth grader at the St. Louis school in Fall River. "My parents didn't even have a car, so that was the only way of getting here," he said. Debbie Gabriel of New Bedford, then 60, told the paper she and her husband, Steve, went on dates there and got stuck on the Ferris wheel. "I used to rock it purposely, and he'd yell at me," she said.

The last seasons

The Globe reported that the park closed after low attendance and tax problems, with rumors about safety adding to them. A private electrical contractor died on the Comet in 1986, the paper reported, and on the coaster's final run in 1987 faulty brakes caused the last car to derail, leaving passengers dangling and injuring four. The Fall River Reporter and the fan site both give Dec. 3, 1987, as the day the park closed.

Some rides were auctioned, the Globe reported, and the Ferris wheel went to New Bedford, according to the Fall River Reporter and the fan site. The owner put the property up for sale in 1988 at $3.5 million, the Globe reported, and after a foreclosure and a series of owners and proposals, Midway Realty LLC bought it in 2002. Arson fires in the 1990s destroyed the remaining buildings, including the former bowling alley, the skating rink and the ballroom, according to the Globe.

What remained of the Comet lasted until July 11, 2012, when it was demolished as fans stood by and some collected mementos, the Globe reported. "It was like your childhood got ripped down to the ground," Debbie Gabriel told the paper that day.

The land today

Dartmouth's zoning bylaw now maps about 40.7 acres there as the Lincoln Park Smart Growth Overlay District. The first of three apartment buildings opened in 2016 and the second in 2018, and about 60 single-family homes make up a neighborhood called Homes at Lincoln Park, WBSM reported in 2022. The Fall River Reporter counted 138 apartments at The Residences at Lincoln Park.

A double-sided kiosk with photos and stories of the park stands at Reed Road and Beeden Road, the southern end of the old grounds, the Fall River Reporter wrote in January 2024. Carpentry students at Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School built and installed it, and the Dartmouth Pathways Committee organized the project.

Where the carousel went

A group of Fall River investors bought the park's carousel when it went up for sale shortly before the park failed, Fun 107 reported in 2023, while the Globe listed it among the rides auctioned. The National Carousel Association's census lists it as Philadelphia Toboggan Co. carousel No. 54, built in 1920, with 48 horses and two chariots, at Lincoln Park until 1991 and at Battleship Cove since. Battleship Cove's history says the community rallied to refurbish it at a cost of $250,000, and a Victorian pavilion was built to house it.

It shut down during COVID, Fun 107 reported, until Mitch Mauricio and Jeffrey Machado got the city's go-ahead to reopen it with an ice cream shop on the bottom floor. WJAR reported that it opened for the season on May 24, 2025, after a restoration by a group that included Karl Pelletier of Red Oak Hospitality. "We see a lot of grandparents bringing their grandchildren here for the nostalgia," Mauricio told Fun 107. "They love that the kids can ride on the very same carousel they rode on when they were children."

Souza stood near the rubble of the Comet in 2012 and told the Globe he was saddened that so many of the region's older amusement parks had closed. "Six Flags and Disney and all that, I guess it's hard to compete with them," he said. "But this was local. When you couldn't afford to take a trip to Florida, this was here."

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from the archive and agency records and the news reports in the sources list below, and each is credited in the story. The fares and the trolley passage come from page scans of the guide, the dated events from the catalog records of the Digital Commonwealth and Boston TV News collections, the carousel from the National Carousel Association and Battleship Cove, and the land from Dartmouth's zoning bylaw. The memories are quoted from The Boston Globe's July 11, 2012 report and Fun 107's 2023 report. We read them on Nov. 9, 2026. We checked each date against a calendar. Where accounts differ on the Comet's year, the story gives both. Not heard: we did not interview anyone for this piece.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (20)

  1. Trolley Trips Through New England, The Trolley Press and Guyde Publishing Co., Hartford, Conn., pages 90 to 92 | Library of Congress copy, Internet ArchiveFares and times to Lincoln Park, the Gee Whiz Railway passage, "a great pleasure ground of the people," the Lincoln Park photograph on page 91, Union St. Ry. Co. map, "Copyright 1910 by The Trolley Press" on the map. Read from the page scans Nov. 9, 2026.
  2. Trolley Trips Through New England, another volume, page 74 | Library of Congress copy, Internet ArchiveSame passage, describing the buildings as "white and green"; timetable with the same 10-cent fare. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  3. Union Street Railway Company employee outing in 1903, New Bedford, MA | New Bedford Free Public Library, Rotogravure Collection, Digital CommonwealthItem dated 1928. The men photographed at Lincoln Park; "Lincoln Park was one of the holding of the Union Street Railway Company." Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  4. Gene Marshall Band, Lincoln Park | UMass Boston, Joseph P. Healey Library, Mass. Memories Road Show, Digital CommonwealthDated Jan. 20, 1945; names the 13 people pictured; "Location: Lincoln Park Ballroom." Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  5. Bishop's Annual Charity Ball, Lincoln Park, Dartmouth | Spinner Publications, The Photography of E. Milton Silvia, Digital CommonwealthDated Jan. 5, 1964. Record only; the photograph is not used. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  6. Kiwanis Flower Show, Lincoln Park, North Dartmouth, MA | Spinner Publications, The Photography of E. Milton Silvia, Digital CommonwealthDated March 28, 1965. Record only. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  7. Rotary Club Lunch, Lincoln Park, North Dartmouth | Spinner Publications, The Photography of E. Milton Silvia, Digital CommonwealthDated April 17, 1966. Record only. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  8. Lincoln Park | Boston TV News Digital Library, Ten O'Clock News collectionCreated Aug. 18, 1982, location Dartmouth (Mass.); catalog description lists the rides and stands. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  9. The Fall River Carousel, census entry | National Carousel AssociationPTC No. 54, built 1920, 28 jumping and 20 standing horses, two chariots; Lincoln Park 1920 to 1991, Battleship Cove 1991 to present; last updated 2023. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  10. The Fall River Carousel at Battleship Cove | Battleship Cove, archived Dec. 6, 2006Guests including Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy; refurbished at $250,000; Victorian pavilion. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  11. Town of Dartmouth Zoning By-law, Article 12, Lincoln Park Smart Growth Overlay District | Town of DartmouthSection 375-12.3: "approximately 40.7 acres." Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  12. Lincoln Park's Comet roller coaster demolished today in Dartmouth, evoking memories of thrills past | The Boston Globe, Travis Andersen and Sarah N. MatteroPublished July 11, 2012, archived copy. The 1894 opening, Comet figures, closing, 1986 and 1987 accidents, sale, fires and every quote from Souza, Almond and Gabriel. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  13. Reflections and history of Dartmouth's Lincoln Park | Fall River Reporter, Ken PaivaPublished March 18, 2018. First features, earlier names, the $40,000 purchase, Dec. 3, 1987, Ferris wheel, 138 apartments. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  14. With the installment of a new kiosk telling its history, we take a look back at Dartmouth's Lincoln Park | Fall River Reporter, Ken PaivaPublished Jan. 22, 2024. The kiosk at Reed and Beeden roads. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  15. What Dartmouth's Lincoln Park Looks Like After the Comet | WBSM, Barry RichardPublished March 17, 2022. The lottery name, apartment openings, Homes at Lincoln Park. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  16. Historic Fall River Carousel Revived by City Enthusiasts | Fun 107, Michael RockPublished March 3, 2023. COVID shutdown, Mauricio and Machado, ice cream shop, the Mauricio quote. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  17. Restored carousel looks to rejuvenate Fall River waterfront | WJAR NBC 10, Mike CerulloPublished May 24, 2025. Season opening and Pelletier. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  18. Lincoln Park | Roller Coaster DataBaseLists the Comet as opened in 1946. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  19. About Lincoln Park | Lincoln Park Comet Fan Site, archived April 27, 2012A fan history, used only beside a second source: 1941 sale, 14-lane bowling alley, 1946 Comet, Dec. 3, 1987, Ferris wheel. Read Nov. 9, 2026.
  20. 1950s post card Comet roller coaster Lincoln Park | Wikimedia CommonsLead image, author Colourpicture, tagged PD-US-no notice. Front and the reverse kept in the file history read Nov. 9, 2026; the reverse names Plastichrome by Colourpicture, Boston, and carries no copyright notice.

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