About
Welcome to Canadian Amusement History. We're an online museum with the goal to serve as a historical resource on the rich, often untold history of the amusement and attractions industry in Canada. Here you will find written history, links to our documentary series, image and video galleries, current news relevant to historic attractions still in operation, and more.
While this site attempts to comprehensively archive and collect information on attractions nationwide, our focus is on the Niagara Falls area due to it's tourism landscape being unlike any other on Earth. From your local mall arcade to amusement parks, haunted attractions to themed restaurants, mini golf courses to animatronic shows, and every kind of amusement attraction in between, you'll be able to find information on it here.
We hope we can help you discover a lost memory, relive a fond one, learn something new, or find a photograph of something you thought you'd never see again. Don't see something you've been searching for? Feel free to contact us using the contact form below.
Recent Updates
The history page for Castle Dracula/Dracula's Haunted Castle has been updated following a 2024 remodel and change in ownership. This attraction has truly risen from the dead like The Count himself.
With several explore videos of this park already on YouTube, I noticed none dive into it's incredible history. Join us as we not only explore what's left of this beautiful park, but also share it's amazing story.
Main history page added for the Wizard's Castle Arcade chain. The story of Canada's largest, beloved, and sorely missed mall arcade chain, including a list of confirmed former locations. This also serves as the main history page for all other chains and arcades owned by the Wizard's brand, including Sky Games, The Games, and Games Maximus.
Site Launch: Welcome
Welcome to all, whether you were searching for this website, something on it, or stumbled upon it by accident. A handful of special feature articles and a good chunk of the history pages are up, mostly for Niagara Region attractions, with several more on the way. There will also be more added to the photo gallery section as time goes on and the website's massive historical photo collection is sorted. We're excited to grow the website with you and see where this goes!
Never Miss a Site Update
About the Author
I grew up in Southern Ontario visiting Niagara Falls often. The attractions in the area (as well as those elsewhere in the province) gave me the desire to pass on the joy they bring and pursue thematic amusement design as a career from an early age.
The landscape of attractions in Niagara Falls began to shift along with the rest of the amusement industry as a whole starting in the late 2000's. By the mid-2010's, I found myself curious about the history of attractions I remembered from my childhood, ones before my time, and ones across the country, only to find it existed nowhere online except for clues scattered to the corners of the internet and public library archives. Not only that, the stories I began to uncover were more interesting than I ever could have imagined.
I would occasionally post my findings on social media and various forums, and quickly learned I was not alone in my curiosity. This site and mini-documentary series are the culmination of over a decade of searching through old photographs, tourist home videos, business records, government databases, public libraries, newspaper archives and peoples' recollections. This is my love letter to the places that inspired me, and I feel it's my duty to make sure these incredible stories of incredible attractions get told instead of lost to time.
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- Alex Crew, Canadian Amusement Historian