New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. ^ a b "New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places".He died April 11, 2006, at age 40, while under anesthesia during dental work. Colossus moved to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1993, after spending some time at the Gulf Breeze Zoo in Florida. He was included among serious candidates and past presidents on a collection of presidential primary trading cards authorized by the New Hampshire State Library, where he was listed as "Colossus G.
Colossus, whose real name was Tony, once ran for president in the New Hampshire primary as a publicity stunt.
"Colossus", a 500-pound (230 kg) silverback who reportedly was one of the largest gorillas ever held in captivity, was a resident at Benson's Wild Animal Farm for approximately 20 years from the 1960s through 1987. The Hudson Center Railroad Station was moved to Benson's by the town of Hudson from its original location on Greeley Street. In April 2002, three buildings at Benson's were added to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places the Bush Hill Road Barn, the Office and Kitchen, and the Hudson Center Railroad Station. This change failed to stem the decline, and the park went out of business at the end of the 1987 season.
Gulf breeze zoo grand opening full#
In 1987, he changed it to an amusement park, whose full name was "New England's Playworld Amusement Park and Zoo", notable for a huge statue of Mighty Mouse. After an unsuccessful association with outside investors, Provencher filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1985. With declining finances in the 1980s, the park added features to add family interest. Toward the end of its existence as a zoo, it had a wide variety of animals, including trained lions, bears of several different species, llamas, a gorilla, elephants, monkeys, and many kinds of birds. It was sold in 1979 to Arthur Provencher, who reversed its decline for a while with an influx of money. Starting in the 1960s, it went into a period of decline in maintenance and attendance. The park was closed to the public during World War II and re-opened in 1945. The farm was managed by Collier, who had previously worked for Ringling Brothers and the Brockton Fair. In 1940, animal trainer Joe Arcaris began his association with the zoo, performing acts with lions and other animals till the late 1970s.īenson died in September 1943, and the following year the property was purchased by a syndicate from Boston consisting of Boston Garden-Arena Corporation executives Raymond Lapham, Walter A. By 1934 the parking lot could accommodate 5,200 cars. A special "Jungle Train" ran from Boston to Hudson on Sundays, with admission to Benson's included in the ticket price. After opening to the public in 1926, Benson's was expanded in 1932–33 with the addition of a permanent Wild Animal Circus. The park finally closed in 1921.īenson then went to New Hampshire to open his own animal park. At the time trolleys took Bostonians from Massachusetts Avenue to Bedford Street and dropped them off at the park's entrance, located on the Lexington and Bedford town line. The women's resting house remains and is now a home. Although he was not the owner, he ran the amusement park, which was filled with all sorts of exotic animals, a theater, a women's resting building and other facilities. His career started at Lexington Park in Lexington, Massachusetts, in the early 1900s. The zoo was founded by John Benson in 1924 as an animal-training center, and was opened to the public in 1926 with animal exhibits, a miniature train, games and exhibits.īenson was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England, circa 1871 he immigrated to the United States as a young man. It has been redeveloped as a public park and nature area. The state of New Hampshire acquired the property in 1989 and transferred it to the town of Hudson in 2009. It opened to the public in 1926 and closed in 1987, after having been renamed New England Playworld for its final year. Benson's Wild Animal Farm was a private zoo and amusement park in Hudson, New Hampshire, United States.
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