Overview
West View Park was located in West View Borough's valley on Perry Highway/U.S. 19. Northbound travelers on U.S. 19 experienced a sharp horseshoe curve before descending into the valley and into the park. It was also one of many trolley parks in the nation, accessible to Pittsburgh streetcar travelers via the #10 West View route. The streetcar tracks ran across U.S. Route 19 and alongside the Dips coaster.
When Pittsburgh native T. M. Harton (from the Shadyside region) bought the land in the West View valley, it was swampy. He dammed the stream and turned the swamp into a 5-acre (20,000 m2) pond called Bellemere Lake, which was later renamed Lake Placid.
West View Park made its grand opening on May 23, 1906. The first rides were a carousel, a mill chute ride called the "Mystic Chute," and a figure eight roller coaster. The rides were built by the T. M. Harton Company. Another attraction for the park's debut season was an open-air dance hall, the largest dance hall in western Pennsylvania at that time. The original Park layout also included a penny arcade, a pony track, and rowboats on the lake.
In 1907 a Katzenjammer Castle funhouse and bandstand were added. Two years later, roller coaster designers Erwin and Edward Vettel developed a new innovation in coasters, and by 1910 the Dips was in operation.
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