On "The Line" 1880-1940

On "The Line" 1880-1940. . For decades, the main attraction on the line was the Willows Pavilion. This unusual looking structure boasted a roller skating rink and a 300-seat, second-floor restaurant. In the rear tower, a camera obscura projected scenes from the surrounding area onto a table in a darkened room. Nearby was a theater, built largely of recycled materials from the Siege of Paris pavilion from a Boston exposition. , The building at the very end of the line originally housed a carousel that was powered by an unpredictable mule tethered to a central pole in the basement. In 1897, the building was acquired by Everett Hobbs and Wilbur Eaton, purveyors of popcorn, taffy, and other summer delights. , Downings’s seafood restaurant and “Blind Pat” Kenneally’s double-jointed peanut stand were among the other early tenants on the line, as were a shooting gallery, a pool room, a bowling alley, and an arcade. , One of the most popular of the park’s commercial attractions in the early 20th century was the Willows Casino dance hall. In the 1920s, the Casino was reopened as the Charleshurst Ballroom, and for the next two decades, locals flocked to the hall to dance to the music of bands headlined by Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and other big names of the era. , By 1940 the Charleshurst had been joined on the line by a new carousel, Dodge-Em Junior bumper cars, The Whip, and other modern amusements. Many of these have passed from the scene, but another attraction from that era, the famed Salem Willows chop suey sandwich, is a popular today as it was in the 1930s.