Last week I sat on the Blue Line for more than 30 minutes due to a signal problem at Orient Heights. No problem. I’m used to the MBTA and its delays.
Instead of stewing in frustration, I decided to look around and use the dead time to think about my next column, but there was little to inspire me in that T car. I must have reread the line of stops 15 times before I started analyzing each stop’s name.
“Government Center” makes sense; the stop lets out right next to Boston City Hall. “Aquarium” is perfectly named as it lets out right near the New England Aquarium. “Revere Beach” is certainly understandable. But why was the last stop on the line named “Wonderland?”
Don’t get me wrong. I rely on and therefore greatly appreciate Wonderland Station, but if you’ve been to 1300 North Shore Road, it is obviously not a “Wonderland.” In fact, there is very little to do there other than wait for the next train or bus and get stung by hornets.
I then wondered if Wonderland got its name ironically. Frankly, it seems more like a place where someone would fall down a rabbit hole than a land of wonder itself. With my train still delayed, I conducted a Google search and soon unlocked the name’s origins.
Thanks to Stephen Wilk’s book “Lost Wonderland: The Brief and Brilliant Life of Boston’s Million Dollar Amusement Park,” I now know that from 1906 to 1910 the area was home to a short-lived amusement park by the same name.
In Wilk’s book, he describes the park’s early roller coasters, scenic railway, central lagoon, aerial swing, and funhouse. At 23 acres, Wilk called it the largest amusement park in New England and “grander” than the Coney Island parks that inspired it. Several performances also took the stage at Wonderland, including a Fires and Flames show, a Wild West show, and circus acts.
More research revealed that the park ultimately went out of business in part due to the economic downturn known as the Panic of 1907, according to Edward and Frederick Nazzaro’s book “Wonderland: Revere’s Mystic City by the Sea.”
As a side note, I’m blown away by the local authors who have dedicated countless hours to documenting this history.
Believe it or not, we spend our lives surrounded by things with interesting histories, especially on the North Shore. We are also fortunate enough to live in an age where the majority of human knowledge fits in our pockets. I’ll never view my commute quite the same, so let this serve as a reminder that the next time you are stuck on the train, research whatever is around you. If you’re lucky enough, you might find something interesting.
Rachel Barber is The Item’s News Editor. Her column appears every week.
