The first Sunday in Autumn is an excellent moment to relate the history of Beauneville Park, the venue of the annual Apple Harvest Festival.
"I shall build a Pleasure Park, with a Biblical theme." August Beaune wrote that in his journal in September of his eighty-fourth year, which happened to coincide with the eighty-fourth year of the century. One might conclude from this statement that Beaune was a public-spirited man, of a pious nature. You would be encouraged to do so by the numerous flyers and brochures by which the Pleasure Park was announced to the public, all of which proclaimed the beneficent and generous nature of the act and the righteousness of the man behind it.
In fact, the Biblical nature of the park was a means to maximize its commercial potential. Beaune figured that denizens of Beauneville and nearby Stapleton would gladly part with nickels to see a reproduction of Noah's Ark, The Garden of Eden, Pharoah's Palace, and so forth. He was a free-thinker who had never had much use for religion. After leaving France, he stepped into a church exactly once, on the day the new First Unitarian Church opened its doors, out of respect for the founders.
Beaune engaged builders and craftsmen from across the country to build the park. There were no plans. All of the work was directly supervised by Beaune, and largely inspired at the spur of the moment. A stonemason crafted a replica of the Ten Commandments. Nobody had a picture of Pharoah's Palace, so Beaune copied a neo-Gothic design with Moorish elements from a recent work of Frank Furness in Philadelphia.
Under the original plan, Noah's Ark would be occupied by pairs of real animals, who would graze and frolic in the park during the day. This proved difficult to accomplish in practice, as the carnivores tended to eat the smaller animals and craftsmen. Eventually, the original plan was abandoned, and Beaune commissioned woodworkers to create pairs of wooden animals. In a concession to the original plan, some rabbits in cages were retained.
The centerpiece of the park was the Grand Carousel, which stood in the plaza by Pharoah's Palace. Built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company to a custom design, the carousel featured chariots, prancing horses and a grand Wurlitzer circus organ that played "Onward Christian Soliders", "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and other snappy tunes. Due to the dizzying speed and remarkable effects, ladies and other persons of delicate sensibility were not permitted on the ride.
The park opened in May 1887. On Opening Day, wagons and carriages carrying aspiring guests jammed the Cidertown Road from Stapleton. The park was extraordinarily successful, and soon after it opened Beaune built a railway for horsecars to help carry the crowds from Stapleton.
The Garden of Eden attraction competed closely with the Grand Carousel as the biggest attraction in the park. The success of this exhibit is mainly attributable to the desire of crowds to see Adam and Eve in the nude demonstrating the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve were played by a local actor and actress, respectively, selected personally by Auguste Beaune. Persons of a sensitive disposition were advised to avoid this exhibit, due to the graphic nature of the live sex show illustrating Adam and Eve's Fall into a life of Sin. On the midway adjacent to the exhibit, vendors in serpent costume did a brisk business selling apples.
Another highly popular exhibition was the Samson and Delilah show, which also featured live sex. Beaune avoided controversy over such displays through active collaboration with local clergy. Persuasive discussions about the merits of showing citizens the fruits of Sin combined with substantial grants and donations to local congregations insured a cooperative ministry.
In 1890, Beaune replaced the horsecars with electric trolley cars, and renamed the line Beauneville Electric Railway. Citizens of Beauneville turned out in a great crowd on the first day of operations, as Car Number One arrived from Stapleton with a full load of passengers headed for Beauneville Park. Car Number One, built by J.G. Brill and Company, was painted dark red, with gold numerals and black striping. The remains of the car now serve to house the Red Trolley Diner on Railroad Avenue.
Beaune continued to add attractions to the Park, and attendance climbed through the next decade (even during the Panic of 1893). For the most part, he maintained the Biblical theme, though a tribute to the U.S.S. Maine was the most popular attraction of 1898. Attractions leveraging the popularity of the Spanish-American War were readily justified by pointing out that the conquest of Cuba and the Philippines were part of God's Plan.
