Wonderland Park, Ocean Beach
san diego historical society
On today’s streets of Abbott and Voltaire, it’s hard to imagine there was once a grand amusement park known as Wonderland. Opened a century ago on July 4, 1913, it went bust after just three years, as it couldn’t compete with the 1915 Panama–California International Exposition in Balboa Park. One of Wonderland’s trustees, Colonel David Charles (D.C.) Collier, co-founded the Museum of Man and was, among many other titles, the public relations commissioner for the Exposition. The only survivors of Wonderland were its caged animals. In 1917, Collier okayed their sale to the new San Diego Zoo for $500. Nearly 100 years to the day after it opened, on June 22, 2013, O.B. will commemorate San Diego’s first amusement park at the Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off Festival, with a special Wonderland Children’s Area.
Wonderland Park, Ocean Beach
