anner newspaper headlines across Nebraska on July
25, 1930, announced a deadly roller coaster accident,
the worst in American history up to that date. The
mishap had occurred the evening before at Omaha's
Krug Park, located at 2936 North 52nd Street, when a four-
car train loaded with passengers left its track and plunged
about thirty-five feet from the trestle of the "Big Dipper"
roller coaster. The Omaha World-Herald said on July 26:
"In the brief moment while the cars poised at the edge of
the track, two of them dangling over the side, passengers
screamed and clawed frantically at the 'safety belts' which
held them to the cars."
Krug Park, established in 1895 as a beer garden by
German-American Charles Tietz, was later operated by
the Fred Krug Brewing Company as an amusement park.
Contemporary advertisements describe it as "Omaha's
Polite Resort." The Omaha Daily Bee on July 22, 1901,
reported that 21,685 people had passed through the gates the
previous day. "The only thing that kept this number from
being swelled to a much larger figure was the inability of the
street cars to carry more ... The dog and monkey show, with
the high jumps and parachute leaps of the animals, proved
as popular as ever and the shooting gallery, bowling alleys,
merry-go-round and myriad other attractions were the scenes
A Brief History
By the Nebraska State Historical Society
B
12 NEBRASKAland • JULY 2017
1930 Roller Coaster Disaster
