Looking For Info On Bergen Point Park, Bayonne, NJ

When I was a tyke, there was an amusement park in my hometown of Bayonne, NJ. It was called Bergen Point (Amusement) Park, better known to locals as Uncle Milty's. It was at the foot of Bayonne, directly across the water from Staten Island, NY. By my recollection, they didn't have a lot of rides, but the first roller coaster I ever rode resided there.

I've tried for years..pre-and-post-internet..to find info on this park. I've found it listed among defunct parks on various sites, but have never really been able to find more than a smidgen of information. The park was alive for many years, closing in the early 1970's.

I thought of it today, because its former location is directly across the street from my sometime laundromat of choice...and today was laundry day. Has anyone heard of this park or ever been able to find anything out about it? There's an artist named Steve Kryzewski (sp?) who specializes in prints of old Bayonne, and he did one of Milty's. I've seen it many times (it hangs in my bank, and I saw it recently in of all places, a funeral parlor,) and one teensy-weensy section of the roller coaster track is visible .

You might be able to find something in one of those history books that Barnes and Noble sells that focuses on different local locations, landmarks, park histories etc (around here the books are about Bethlehem, Jim Thorpe, Dorney Park, Hershey, etc).

A lot of interesting photos in those "Images of America" books. I've found quite a few glaring errors in the text in the books I have from this series tho so don't take what is written in them as gospel.

I found a used copy of the Images Of America Bayonne book on Amazon. But I don't really want to order it if I don't know for sure it contains the info I'm looking for. But thanks for the suggestion, bunky..it was a good one.

You're quite welcome. I did see some pics of the old park, and I read the obit for Uncle Milty, but other than that, I haven't seen much either.

You found pics? I haven't even been able to do that. I did find the obit a few years ago.

Yeah, just typed the park name in Google and eventually found picks. However, the pics were super old, and I didn't see a roller coaster in them.

I think I found pics of the ferry that went to Bergen Point. Sorry, probably not too helpful. Here's a link:

http://bayonneretro.blogspot.com/2012/01/port-richmond-bergen-point-ferry.html

Yep, that's how many people from Staten Island got to the park!

I believe Bayonneretro was where I saw the vintage pics of the park. Keep digging there.

It must have been pretty cool to ride the ferry to the ride. Those old parks really are special, and I never get tired of Knoebels, Silver Dollar City, and especially Lake Compounce. On the other hand, I'm starting to get bored of the overhyped, overrated "atmosphere" of Cedar Point that all its fanboys like to talk about...same thing with about ninety percent of all other Six Flags- or Cedar Fair-owned parks.

Did you find it?

http://bayonneretro.blogspot.com/2012/01/uncle-miltys-amusement-park_02.html

No, RCMAC, I hadn't found that. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!! Exactly the type of pix I was looking for. Hell, there's a coupla kids in those pics who look like they could be ME! And I finally have a picture of my first roller coaster. Little did I know back then.......

Oh, you're most welcome, and don't mention it. I live to serve. (hey, waaaait a minute... where's my +1?...)
I love looking at vintage photos, and one of the nicest feelings you can have is when memories come flooding back. I'm glad you found your first coaster, how cool.
I have a feeling one of those early Schiff (or Miler?) rides was my first too, probably in a shopping center parking lot. Camden and LeSourdesville were my early parks, and I know LeSourdesville had one, so maybe that was it.
I thought Uncle Milty seemed a little,...what's the word,?... creepy? Until I read his memorial page there.
Do you have any memories of Palisades as well? There's a park I would loved to have seen.

A lot of those early kiddie steel coasters were Schiff, Molina & Sons, or Herschell rides - they can be pretty tricky to ID unless you can find a manufacturer's plate somewhere on the console and/or train...

I grew up in Jersey, and have only vague recollections of hearing about Palisades (never went, AFAIK). Other than GAdv, the parks I remember were Seaside/Point Pleasant and Keansburg...this is the first I've heard of Uncle Milty's.

RCMAC said:

Do you have any memories of Palisades as well? There's a park I would loved to have seen.

I've said this before, and I implied it in a PM to Mr. Ascough yesterday. Is it possible to be nostalgic for a place you have no memories of? I know I went to Palisades multiple times..it closed in 1971, on my 7th birthday, actually. I've read a lot about it over lo these many years, but nothing ever really came back to me.

And you're welcome..for the +1..I should have done it last night, but seeing those pics sorta made me forget other stuff for a little while..

Oh that's ok, I was just kiddin'. :-)
Besides, it's Ms. Bunky and/or Blasterboy who should get credit for the website find. I was just having one of those 'awake in the middle of the night, now what do I do?' moments and started to peck around!
Besides, I love vintage photographs of parks gone by, mine or yours. I'm always glad to see them.
And I believe it's entirely possible to have feelings for a time or place you can't put real memories to. I believe our mind stores everything we sense and it's buried in there waiting to surface. Maybe the trigger will occur, maybe not. Marylou Henner, for instance, is one of those people that uncannily remembers every single thing that ever happened to her. RCMAC, on the other hand, is one who can't always remember what he had for lunch most days.
I have a feeling you fall somewhere in between. So, your job is to THINK REAL HARD!

:-)

I am sure it is possible to have nostalgia for a place you can't remember. I have nostalgia for places I've never even been to in my life!