This now-extinct amusement park at Ocean Beach was established in the 1880s and dismantled in 1972. It has a rich, weird history. Rick Prelinger unveiled some great amateur footage in his latest Lost Landscapes screening in December.
On March 16th, the Balboa Theater will premier a full-length documentary about the park by Tom Wyrsch.
Gone now for more than 3 decades, it remains one of the city’s lost treasures. Go back in time to see Laffing Sal, the Fun House, the Carousel, the Big Dipper, the Diving Bell, Dark Mystery, Limbo, Fun-tier Town, and much, much more, all through the eyes of the people that were there. The first and only documentary ever made about Playland.
(Spotted @SF_Explorers)
The “Playland-Not-At-The-Beach” Museum over in El Cerrito is also very interesting, they have recreated the whole place in miniature (though not the whole museum is on-topic, there are fictional mini theme towns for different holidays too). Still quite interesting!
The DVD of “Remembering Playland” is now available at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach . If you buy it from PNATB it includes a buy one get one admission ticket and agame tolken from Playland at the Beach.