The mysterious Tower of Jewels at Lakeside Amusement Park,
in the city of Lakeside, CO, built 1908.

At the time of it’s construction, this Beaux-Arts style tower was
the tallest structure in Colorado at 150 feet!

You may notice the mysterious word REDIT above the east entrance as you exit the park. No one knows the meaning of REDIT.

I am going to go off the deep end here for a bit and speculate wildly that this is somehow related to. . . Masons and that when Denver brewer Adolph Zang and friends created the original White City Lakeside park in 1908, that they humorously incorporated some Masonic mumbo-jumbo into the design!

The tower and the outside of the park were covered in esoteric symbols such as Five and Eight Pointed Stars, Fleur de Lys, and even a pair of Maltese Crosses.

These maltese crosses were undoubtably taken down after the first world war, due to the resemblance to the German Iron Cross.

I have highlighted the barely discernable locations here in this photo, along with one of the other odd symbols.

Above, two Fleur de Lys.

The all-caps REDIT sign that you pass under while exiting the park, strongly reminds me of the famous Union Station gate bearing the all-caps Hebrew word MIZPAH that travelers used to pass under as you exited the station toward Denver heading up 14th Street.

Now I wonder. . . were both of these features were placed there to be decoded by up-and-coming Masons for reasons unknown to the rest of us? Cue eerie music.

This picture shows a large Masonic Knight’s Templar gathering in front of the original Lakeside funhouse, which if you look closely, was called the Thirty Third Degree, the highest degree of Masonry!

This original funhouse was later replaced by the Autoskooter Bumper Cars, and then the much more famous Lakeside Funhouse was built nearby.

Sadly, I do not have any photos of the classic Funhouse, as it was taken down in the 1980s due to safety concerns, and replaced with the Green Dragon Roller Coaster.

Okay, okay, now that is enough of this tin-foil hat silliness, on with the show. . .

Lakeside is most famous for the Cyclone Roller Coaster. If you are visiting Denver, you can pay the $2.50 entry fee, then buy the $2.00 worth of tickets to ride the Cyclone for a grand total of $4.50!

So, even if you only have a half-hour, you can pop in for an inexpensive quick thrill ride on this wild wooden coaster!

Richard Crowther designed many of the beautiful Art Deco signs and booths thoughout Lakeside, but for the interior of the Eataway Cafe (below), Lakeside owner Ben Krasner was savvy enough to salvage this Art Deco interior from a renovation of the inside of Denver’s Union Station, where this beautiful decor was being removed.

You can no longer go into the interior of Lakeside’s College Inn but it too was a wonderful example of Art Deco.

Lakeside has a great metal coaster as well, titled the Wild Chipmunk!

This ticket booth for the Wild Chipmunk is one of my favorite designs in the entire park!

And finally, the Riviera Ballroom, all that is left of the historic El Patio Ballroom, where big bands and rock and roll acts once played.

I believe the interior of the Riviera was also designed by Richard Crowther, and may possibly be still intact behind this door!

Behind you can see the old grandstands looking out over Lake Rhoda.

I would post this to Reddit.com, but I am uncertain how!