Palisades Amusement Park – In Miniature
Palisades Amusement Park – In Miniature
A Mahwah Museum Exhibit
This miniature depicts the legendary Palisades Amusement Park as it would have looked in the mid 1930s. The scale of this model is 1:12, a common dollhouse scale.
The original builder of the model was Joe Prisco, a longtime park employee. His estimated cost for the initial build was $40,000. Over 3,700 light bulbs and 15 power transformers were used to illuminate the rides and attractions. It was displayed at several locations in Ocean County, New Jersey in the 1990s. Prisco died in 2006.
In 2018, Vince Gargiulo, Executive Director of the Palisades Amusement Park Historical Society, traced the whereabouts of the model. The Prisco family donated what was left of the model to the historical society.
To date, twenty-five pieces have been restored, including as seen in this exhibit, the Tunnel of Love, the World’s Largest Outdoor Salt Water Pool, the Ferris Wheel, the Carousel, the Free Act Stage, the Bumper Cars and much more.