Auburndale was once home to one of the Boston area’s biggest amusement parks: Norumbega Park, which opened on June 17, 1897.

It was created by the president of the local trolley company, who was hoping to increase the number of trolley fares. And he did: 12,000 people showed up for opening day, and the trolley company had to increase service during the summer to meet demand.

The round-trip fare from the trolley stop at Lake Street to Boston was 15 cents, and that included admission to the park. And what a park it was: it featured a merry-go-round, canoeing, concerts, a penny arcade, the largest zoo in New England, and the Pavilion Restaurant, which seated 250.

There was a huge theatre, which initially showed live performances and then, as animation became popular, films. People would listen to music while in their canoe, which contributed to the Charles River being the most canoed waterway in the world.

There was something for everyone. And that included opportunity: the Pavilion Restaurant was managed by Joseph Lee, who had been born into slavery in South Carolina and had no formal education but had become a talented chef and manager.

“It was almost like Coney Island,” said Marta Crilly, Head Librarian for User Engagement at the Burns Library at Boston College, which has an extensive collection related to Norumbega Park.

It was a place where local people could enjoy a fun day out without the expense of significant travel. There was also the nearby Riverside Recreation Grounds, which was built by Charles Hubbard to give young men from the city outdoor athletic space.

Norumbega Park changed as the times did. The Great Steel Theatre couldn’t get first-run movies, and it was suffering from increased competition due to the many other new cinemas that had opened nearby.

The owners of the park decided to convert it to a dance hall, and the Totem Pole Ballroom was born in 1930. It was incredibly popular, especially as people tried to escape for a moment from the miseries of the Great Depression.

The prizes at the fairway for games like Skee-Ball changed from pennants and dolls to bags of flour, coffee and sugar. The park almost closed during the Depression, but it was saved by Roy Gil, who had worked at and managed several other restaurants and amusement parks in the area.

One change he made was to ban alcohol from anywhere other than within the restaurant: previously, bad behavior caused by alcohol had been so prevalent the park had its own police station.

Bing Crosby was once removed from the park for drinking from a flask.

Gil gave the Totem Pole a dress code and hired top bands. Only couples were permitted, because he felt there were an excessive number of single young men only there to hear the music.

World War II hurt the Totem Pole, as big bands faced uncertainty about travel and many of their members entered the military. Gil managed to keep it hanging on, albeit with reduced hours, by hiring local musicians.

After the war, Gil installed new rides, and added back the park’s train, which had been taken out during the war. But when 128 was opened in 1951, suddenly Newton residents could travel further afield more easily to other amusement parks on the North or South Shore. And many high schools held their proms there.

Norumbega Park is now a nature reserve next to the Marriott. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

But the park was clearly in decline. There was a brief musical television show filmed there, modeled on American Bandstand, but Gil decided he was against that and sold the park in 1956.

The new owner, Douglas Farrington, hoped he could resurrect it, but the age was against him. Churches and youth centers had free dances on Friday nights, which reduced the number of young adults interested in paying for the Totem Pole. More people had cars and could drive to restaurants or drive-in movie theaters, and more people were staying at home and watching TV at night.

Farrington sold the property to developer Peter Kanavos, who wanted to build a dozen high-rise buildings on it. Auburndale residents were horrified and tried to get the Metropolitan District Commission to take over the park by eminent domain. This failed, and the park closed in 1963. The Totem Pole would close a year later.

The Totem Pole building burned down in 1965, and the restaurant caught fire a few weeks later (although that fire was stopped by the building’s sprinkler system). The boathouses would burned down in 1966, possibly to cover up the theft of several canoes.

Kanavos signed a contract with Marriott to build a hotel at the site. Today, the site is partly the hotel and partly a 13-acre park owned by the City of Newton.

The carousel organ was saved, and after extensive 21st century restoration, now plays music again.

The Burns Library’s extensive collection of material related to Norumbega Park, some of which is currently on display in their exhibit section, was collected by Robert Pollock, an Auburndale native who loved the park. The collection was donated to the library by his brother Brian.

“We wanted to highlight Norumbega Park because it was an important part of Boston’s entertainment and leisure culture, and it had a special significant to people in the Boston College area, and we thought it was a part of Boston history that was precious to a lot of people but that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” said Crilly.

Anyone can request to view the Norumbega Park material at the Burns Library.