Riverview Park: Chicago’s Lost Amusement Park With a Dark Side

For decades, Riverview Park was Chicago’s playground — a sprawling world of roller coasters, carnival barkers, freak shows, parachute drops, funhouses, and summer nights filled with lights and noise along the Chicago River.But behind the laughter was another story.In this episode of Lost Chicago, we go back inside the vanished amusement park that once drew millions to the North Side. Riverview was thrilling, chaotic, and unforgettable — but it was also home to dangerous rides, troubling attractions, racial stereotypes, accidents, crime, and a side of entertainment that feels very different today.From the legendary Bobs roller coaster to the famous Pair-O-Chutes, from the crowds that packed Western and Belmont to the strange mystery of why the park suddenly closed in 1967, this is the story of a Chicago landmark that disappeared almost overnight.Riverview Park is gone now. But for generations of Chicagoans, the memories never left.