Rose Island Amusement Park: The Summer’s Highlight

Rose Island Amusement Park: The Summer’s Highlight. . , From a Child’s Point of View , A day trip to Rose Island Amusement Park was easily the high point of the summer for many children. Decades later, every detail of the adventure is vividly recalled., Recollection of Louis Deca, Jefferson County resident: “The boat left the Madison landing at 8 a.m. My mother would be up at 4 a.m. the day of the trip, frying chicken and making potato salad for her picnic basket. When the boat arrive at Rose Island, we scrambled up to the park to get a picnic table.”, “After enjoying your picnic lunch, you had all day to enjoy the amusements and the activities. The departure whistle sounded at 4:30 and the boat departed at 5 p.m. We danced all the way home. We would be back at the Madison landing in time for the steamer to carry out a moonlight excursion from Madison to Carrollton and return.”, “The boat would arrive at Madison that morning around 7 a.m., her whistle blowing and calliope playing songs like “Somebody Stole My Gal.” A Dixieland band was aboard to accommodate the dancers – of which there were many. We danced all the way to Rose Island. As we neared the entrance to the park the captain blew the landing whistle and the calliope never stopped playing. The whistle would send shivers up and down your spine. If you were nostalgic, you could get tears in your eyes.”, Did you know? , Rose Island had enough picnic tables to seat 1,500 people.