14. The Unusual Amusement Park Where McCurdy Was Discovered
When members of the television crew discovered that McCurdy was a real corpse, thousands of people had seen him before. McCurdy had been at the Nu-Pike Amusement Park for years. He had always been located in the funhouse with many other horror movie-type items, such as monsters and skeletons. The children, and probably some adults, who had seen McCurdy often poked at him. Some of the children would scream, and others would run around him. However, none of them knew he was a real corpse. From about 1902 until 1979, Nu-Pike Amusement Park was a trendy place.
In fact, it was the first major attraction in the Long Beach, California area. It is recorded that during the 1950s there were 218 amusements in Nu-Pike. Along with the scary funhouse, Nu-Pike had many rides including a long wooden dual-track coaster called the Cyclone Racer. Other rides at the park included a carousel, House of Mirrors, bumper cars, and kiddie land. While some people might believe that the discovery of McCurdy’s corpse led to the park’s demise, there is no proof of this. According to reports, the park closed due to the redevelopment going on around the park, disrepair of the park, and the lease with the city had ended.