July 4 in Hudson a Hundred Years Ago

On the eve of the Fourth of July in 1917, Hudson Evening Register published this information and advice for the holiday.

Electric Park was an amusement park on Kinderhook Lake. Located midway between Hudson and Albany, the park was created and owned by the Albany and Hudson Railroad Company.

Admission to the park, which was adjacent to the trolley line, was free for those who paid the round-trip fare of 40 cents from Hudson or Albany. The trolley's third rail powered the lights that lined the park as well as some of the attractions.

Electric Park opened in 1901, but there is some uncertainty about when it closed. One source says is was "essentially closed by 1917." Another notes that the trolley stopped running in December 1919. Still another indicates that "it was officially all over in 1921." The item in the Evening Register for July 3, 1917, is evidence that on the Fourth of July, a little more than two months after the United States had declared it was at war with Germany, Electric Park was open and offering "special attractions."
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