This was my favorite place to go growing up. Sorry that the kids today can't experience the magic that was there, but i am grateful for the fun times i had.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

I wish I could have experienced it myself

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

True. Today kids don't know how to enjoy the things we had when we were growing up.

Lots of good memories from PB. I worked there as a ride operator the summer of 1967.

@NOLADEEJ

11 ай бұрын

Oh wow!

I'm back for more. Thanks for recording the history. Tomorrow makes 40 years since the last ride.

@NOLADEEJ

9 ай бұрын

Wow that’s crazy!

I have some pictures of going when I was little little kid. I know that when Six Flags in New Orleans opened they brought back the Zephyr which was pretty cool. I wish they would have rebuilt after Katrina.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

That’s right I forgot Jazzland had a Zephyr!!

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

When they renamed it to Six Flags...it was NEVER like Ponchartrain Beach If I'm not mistaken, but wasn't Six Flags going into a bankruptcy before Hurricane Katrina Hit.

@chdreturns

Жыл бұрын

​@@ljsmixbox44 Yes, besides if it were still around they would have turned it into a lame steel coaster courtesy of those butchers at RMC.

May I use this footage in a video I'm making about remnants of famous roller coasters? I will give your channel full credit.

@NOLADEEJ

5 жыл бұрын

Sure thing!

I remembered Bali Hai. It was a cool restaurant off the beach, but they turn it into a night club and other things such a wedding receptions. I've been their for both.

This park had everything, my favorite was the haunted house. It had laughing creepy noises and screams playing all the time, looked great inside and out. And you had the Hard Rock playing music nearby, i would go in that and go on rides like the yo-yo, musick express, the Log Flume and The Paratrooper. Never had the courage to go on the famous Zephyr or Rajun Cajun, but for me just seeing and hearing them was enough. They say you can't go home again, but if that park were rebuilt it would give a huge boost to people here, i know that's impossible but if another Tom Benson comes along...

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

Remember they had two haunted houses. A two story and the one story. My favorite was the two story haunted house.

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

To me although the Rajun Cajun was a roller coaster that went inside down loop. The Zephyr was still the king of the roller coaster although it was a wooden one. To be it seem faster.

@Strive1324L

2 жыл бұрын

@@ljsmixbox44 Yes, the two-story. You would be in the car rolling along and you saw everyone down below. Then you would hit the doors with a BANG! and keep going.

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

@@Strive1324L Yeah. A big car with a skeleton face at the head part of the chair. We had to deal with that. When we got up top, I saw the people standing outside in line. I was too afraid to wave because we had to go back in there one more time. lol The car also seemed like a bumper car because it hit those doors so hard and the screaming. I remember one part when we were riding and the room start spinning in circles or it was something spinning in circles that had a lot of different colors. They also had real people in there. The haunted house was scary times at Pontchartrain Beach 😥. But it was fun😀. That line was always long.

I came close to visiting Pont Beach but alas, never made it through the turnstile. In the summer of '67, my family and I were on our annual vacation to NOLA--my father was from the Irish Channel and we'd visit NOLA once a year to catch up with his relatives. During this trip, my father decided to take the family to Pont Beach. We all packed into our car, and made the ride out to the lakefront from the Irish Channel. About the only thing I remember of Pont Beach, upon our arrival at the park, was an immensely large billboard (more like a towering wall) at the entrance to the park, illuminated with neon advertising the park, along with some neon signing for 7-Up. I also seem to recall some neon fish and bubbles as part of the billboard. Our family never made it into the park as my father, a life-long resident of NOLA until he left in his 30's to work in the Midwest, balked at the idea of having to pay what he felt were exorbitant admission fees just to get in. I vaguely recall him complaining about how it was so much cheaper to gain access to the park when he was a youth, and dog-gone-it, he was not going to pay what was being asked for admission! That and my brother bitterly crying that we weren't going in. And that was that. We drove off, probably to somewhere where my father eased his anger with a few of his beloved Jax beers (when they were still brewed on Decatur Street) and whatever seafood that was in season during the summer then--I recall my father adhering to a rigid schedule of when it was right (and wrong) to eat Louisiana seafood. No, I never made it in, but at least I have some memories of when Pont Beach was still a going entity. Later in my life, I did visit (many times) the Pont Beach area, long after the park was but a memory and the general lakefront area had been re-developed--I remember the Pont Beach area as nice, tranquil area to enjoy some alone time when I lived briefly in NOLA during the late 80's. Lot of good memories of NOLA, for sure.

@NOLADEEJ

5 жыл бұрын

Oh wow!! So close!! That's closer than I have gotten though. I never went. I'm not sure why my parents never decided to bring me there before it closed.

Oh the gypsy fortune teller machine in the penny arcade was my absolute favorite and until Katrina I still had my original fortune card and it was pretty damn accurate....thanks for the memories!

@NOLADEEJ

2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow!! I wish I could have gone when it was open

So neat that they kept a few remnants there but I'm with you, Deej. They need to restore and preserve them before a hurricane takes what's left.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I don’t want to see it whittle away to nothing :(

I remember going to Pontchartrain beach when I was a kid. Was a great time way back then.

I remember Ponchtrain Beach ⛱

@NOLADEEJ

3 жыл бұрын

I never went. Would love to see something like this come back though

Glad to see that there are a few things left over to see and to talk about the memories!

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah! I just hope they get the attention they need to preserve them even longer.

I remember Pontchartrain beach the zeyher ride and the spider ride stood out most of course I was an little kid then.

@NOLADEEJ

Жыл бұрын

I would like to go back and ride it

That's a fascinating piece of local history - thanks for sharing it with us. The clown (that features in the promo video and in the leaflet) is super creepy!

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks man! Yeah that clown definitely seems like he's out of a horror movie, lol!

@irisvallejos7334

Ай бұрын

​@@NOLADEEJ What happened to that clown? And what meaning did it have in that park?

I love your video's! They are always so interesting and informative! Thanks for sharing!

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Susan!! :)

Memories!!! My dad and I were there the last weekend it was open. I have several pennants from there.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Aw that's awesome!!

In the late 50s and early 60s, we used to go to Ponchatrain Beach almost every weekend! Great times!

That was some really fun history man. I really enjoyed it it was awesome that you found that commercial. Great video

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jay!! You rock man!!

I went on a business trip to New Orleans in about 1974-5 to Southern Shipbuilding. While there I visited the park and rode the Zephyr. I think there is still a small scar on the side of my knee. I was bleeding when I got off from banging into a nut on the safety bar mount and I mentioned it to the attendant. He said "yeah, that happens a lot!!" Still fun.

Awesome video!! This was great, very educational and fun to watch. Very nicely put together! I can see this channel soaring very soon, nice work 👌🙌

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!!!

Awesome! I didn't realize those were at the park hmm things you just see and Don't realize the history behind them.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Yep! Been there a while, but not too many know about it

I worked there in 82 and 82 ..

That's too cool!!!! Memories!!!!

OMG! What a history bite! I have crossed Pontchartrain several times, but it was either downpouring or night. I missed this! Is it visible from either end of the bridge? Wow! Looked like a great place! Alligator and shark free, of course? Lol!

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

It's no longer there, the only thing left in that location is the lighthouse. I don't think that's visible from the bridge. Hah, I haven't heard any horror stories about gators at the beach ;)

Wow...that looked like it would have been a great place. Very sad it had to close. New Orleans is such an interesting place. Thanks for the tour.

i rode the zephyr one night about twenty times in a row since the park had low visitation that night, they tried rebuilding it at six flags but got the design wrong, had 8 mm movies of the whole ride

@NOLADEEJ

Ай бұрын

Nice!

That's pretty cool to see remnants of an old roller coaster in a park.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah! I would really love to see it restored though and placed somewhere to keep it safe.

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

Those were the days.lol

I can't remember exactly where, but when I was growing up in Metairie, I remember another park had one of the old cars from the Zephyr, like up on a plinth or something. Does anyone else remember this? I've been trying to figure out where this was, or if I imagined it 30 years ago.

There is a restaurant in Buenos Aires, and it is called NOLA. All they serve is food from New Orleans.

First of all, thanks for all of your videos! They are great and very informative about things right here in our city. I heard some info about a place that you may find interesting. Apparently there was another park in New Orleans called Lincoln Beach, and it's history is tied to Pontchartrain Beach, since it closed only when desegregation happened and most of the African American community then went to Pontchartrain beach. It was located somewhere way down on Hayne Blvd (almost near Six Flags). A quick search shows there is still a sign there today, and possibly some other remanences still there. Sorry don't know much more about it, but I think it would be a cool video to add to your library the way you do things if you were able to dig up any info on it and check it out.

@NOLADEEJ

3 жыл бұрын

😁 stay tuned

i used to visit my grandparents who lived a couple blocks from the park in the eary 70s, even lived in NO for a year and half in uptown. i was at the age of a big disneyland fan....so summers i would walk back there by the amusement park to see what was going on, but it seemed like it was always closed. dont know if it was only open weekends or i had just missed the season. may have hopped the fence once or twice, but i remember having a clear view of everything inside and how empty it was, a little spooky for a kid. felt like i missed out on it, you could feel the history and memories.

I Really Love The Zephyr Every Little Rollercoaster there, I wish they could be brought back to life *Zephyr Senpai Coaster*

Memories.....

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you Ms. Streisand! Hahahahaha

Awesome!! I think I went to pontcharain beach the summer before it closed with my aunt and my cousin. The memory is cloudy bc I was so young. I recall that I was wearing pigtails that day. I'll have to ask my cousin ( she's 10yrs older than me) if this memory is correct or if it's from some other carnival type fair. Is the zephyer sign at the park in Rivertown? Keep up the good work! We ❤ your videos! Ps you need to do a video on the Worlds Fair!! I know that in 2009 John Curtis lower school had some of the gondola cars on the campus not sure if they still have them..

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Dayna!!! I never went :( I’m looking at doing something about the worlds fair soon

This is great info. I didn't know the lighthouse was still there at UNO.

@NOLADEEJ

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, unfortunately it's closed off so nobody can see the inside but it's still cool to see up close.

@ljsmixbox44

2 жыл бұрын

Neither did I.lol

I remembered those days The log flute ride The bumper cars The haunted house rides The Zephyr...

I loved that place as a child. I still have my last wrist band made of string a medal clamp. I do have two Pontchartrain Beach Glasses. I won a Jesus picture the last summer it was open in 1983. I still have it. It is sad to see how they are letting history go down hill. Kenner needs to step up and fix up history. River Town in Kenner is run down these days to.

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Oh very cool!! I need to find some mementos from the old days.

love it! somebody really does need to fill in the bottom of the Tiki man before he's all the way gone. give him a new pair of pants! they've got to restore the bottom of things before it's too late so you don't have to replace the whole thing then it's just not the same. I'll bet you if they would have given people a choice sales probably would have picked up if they would have known it was going to leave otherwise. I would bet just a little bit of tweaking business-wise and they could have not closed it down. there I go getting all sentimental again. Thank you again!

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it’s a shame to see it just rotting away :(

@gomezaddams6470

6 жыл бұрын

NOLADEEJ 😢

@gomezaddams6470

6 жыл бұрын

NOLADEEJ ps you are doing a really good job making your videos! I just wanted to let you know that it's noticeable. and of course the live streams are just fun!

This was cool buddy

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ed!

I remember it from when I was a kid

@NOLADEEJ

3 жыл бұрын

I never got to ride it

The Wild Mouse was much scarier than the Zephyr, but both were fun.

@richardpaschal2218

Жыл бұрын

I agree. The Wild Mouse was much scarier. I kind of recall there were several right angle turns. Talk about abrupt!

that was awesome,we have 1 in here in northeast ohio called geauga lake,ceder point bought em so they wouldnt have any compition and all it was a small amusment park,at 1 time seaworld was there,6 flags bought it once,check out the history its interestesting

@NOLADEEJ

5 жыл бұрын

I'll definitely do that! Thank you!

Where I live, we had a killer roller-coaster, literally. And it caused attendance at the amusement park to skyrocket. Local leaders went berserk upon discovering that kids prefered the amusement park with the high risk of death, and they demanded that the killer coaster be dismantled. It was. Then it was re-assembled that the nearby historically Black amusement park. And attendance there skyrocketed too.

@NOLADEEJ

3 жыл бұрын

Oh wow! That sounds like that place in Jersey

Where did you find that house with the Pontchartrain Beach painting on it?

@NOLADEEJ

5 жыл бұрын

It's actually painted on the back of the building in the park I was in.

@bondianer

5 жыл бұрын

@@NOLADEEJ Near the milneburg lighthouse?

I was born in 93 . My parents and my cousins remember it. 😕

Pretty sad to see the last bit of the Zephyr...

@NOLADEEJ

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I wish I would have been old enough to ride this thing in its prime!

@chdreturns

Жыл бұрын

​@@NOLADEEJ I would too as Wooden coasters of that era are my fave

Elvis did a show at lake Ponchartrain amusement park on Sept 1, 1955 is there footage or audio?

@NOLADEEJ

4 жыл бұрын

Oh I'm not sure, will have to search around and see what I can find

Oh yeah. Rode the Zephyr and the Ragin' Cajun.

@NOLADEEJ

4 жыл бұрын

I would have loved to ride those

@valmarsiglia

4 жыл бұрын

@@NOLADEEJ Oh, they were fun. For some odd reason though there's not really anything on KZread or anywhere else on the web with photos or footage of the RC. Pontchartrain Beach had a separate commercial for it, I can still remember part of the jingle. But I did find something interesting in my search: the RC is actually still operational. It's called the Steamin' Demon and it's been running since 1984 in upstate New York: rcdb.com/264.htm

The Pontchartrain Beach was for whites only due to segregation, and Lincoln Beach was for people of color in the suburbs of N.O East (where my PawPaw and family lives). I just visited the Pontchartrain Beach for the time since Katrina, you could feel the old atmosphere. So beautiful 😍

I love the nuclear TV commercial.

@NOLADEEJ

5 жыл бұрын

Lol!

I have a fascinating story to tell you abt the R R shown on your vid. abt city park! How can I contact you w/o compromising our addresses.?

@NOLADEEJ

3 жыл бұрын

Search for noladeej on Facebook, or Instagram and DM me there. Or email me noladeej@gmail.com

"Almost everybody..." that was WHITE, went to Pontchartrain Beach. Pontchartrain did not allow people of color to enter the park until 1963. Prior to that, African-Americans lost their lives trying to find other places to go swimming along the Lake's shore. (Sinkholes were prevalent along the lake's bed). Following a tragic swimming death of a Creole family in 1931, the city decided to build Lincoln Beach for blacks (primarily to avoid the bad publicity for having un-equal beach facilities). Lincoln Beach opened in 1954, but was not nearly equal in terms of size, rides and amenities. It was also less convenient to arrive at from the city. However, it was a SAFE place for blacks to swim where they were free of harassment and bullying from whites. In your construction of New Orleans' recreational history, I hope you will reconsider removing the nostalgic haze that prevails in reference to the history of Pontchartrain Beach. As a maker of historical media, please tell the entire tale of Pontchartrain, which includes white-supremacy and the park's adherence to Jim Crow segregationist standards. Thank you.

@captrodgers4273

3 жыл бұрын

yeah by all means dont leave out why they had to close the park either........................car break in's, armed robberys, destruction of park property, etc.....TELL THE WHOLE history

@tommymack8916

3 жыл бұрын

Much of your information is incorrect.

yeah it wasn't from declining ticket sales that uncle harry shut the beach down

Werent there one, maybe two, segregated swimming pools near there?

@NOLADEEJ

5 жыл бұрын

I believe so.. Not sure though

@IslenoGutierrez

5 жыл бұрын

choppedpeanuts2 My mother told me that during segregation, Pontchartrain Beach was where the whites went and Lincoln Beach was where the blacks went.

@IslenoGutierrez

4 жыл бұрын

Creole Gaudet Yes, that’s what I was told...there were two different parks for the two races. So much has changed since then when you look at those days and today. Hey, I’m Creole too! I’m a white Creole of spanish and French descent, 100% colonial Louisiana descendant. Nice to meet you!

@zorazorazorzzora8333

4 жыл бұрын

Tito Torres My dad used to take us to Lincoln Beach.... it was the segregated beach for blacks folks...

@IslenoGutierrez

4 жыл бұрын

zorazora zorzzora My mother used to go to Pontchartrain beach and she sometimes talks about how fun it was. I used to go to Jazzland when I was younger but now that is even gone. The New Orleans area badly needs a theme park. But I’d be happy with at least fixing the potholes everywhere in the city lol

Just leave it to black people, they can shut anything down. Thanks a lot I used to love Pontchartrain Beach

@IslenoGutierrez

5 жыл бұрын

Dee Devlin People don’t like the hard truth but that was the reason for the declining ticket sales. Desegregation killed Pontchartrain Beach.