During the 1950s and ’60s, many Edina children celebrated their birthdays with a party at Queen Anne Kiddieland, a wonderland of ponies, amusement rides and the Rock Island Rocket, a miniature 1/6 scale replica of a real train.
The train was then called the Casey Jones Flyer, in honor of popular kids' TV host Casey Jones, whose show entertained Twin Cities-area kids at lunchtime. Casey, a railroad engineer character played by actor Roger Awsumb, drove the train around the track every Sunday to the delight of his young fans.
“We were packed most every Sunday,” said Boyd Thomas, who as a high school kid helped his father Frank run the pony rides at the busy amusement park, which offered party rooms and ticket specials for birthday celebrations.
The park also provided summer entertainment, before modern amusement parks like Valleyfair and Nickolodeon Universe opened. Kiddieland’s rides were smaller, but even teens hung out there to flirt and find dates from neighboring towns.
Visitors recall that Queen Anne Kiddieland seemed to be in the middle of nowhere at the southeast corner of what is now the intersection of highways 494 and 100. But then, that land was in “the country.” In fact, the ponies came from Thomas’s 80-acre farm located a few miles away, at 78th Street and France Avenue in Bloomington, where he raised dairy cattle and hay.
By the end of the 1960s, however, the 494 strip transformed thanks to crowds at the new Metropolitan Stadium, freeway construction and the population boom. An office tower now stands at the Queen Anne Kiddieland site, but those who want to relive their past can still ride on the Rock Island Rocket, which is now housed at the Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul.
&
The Edina History Museum is gathering memories and artifacts for its upcoming “Growing Up in Edina” exhibit that will open this fall. Call 612.928.4577.
