Fairyland Park was an amusement park, located at 7501 Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. It operated from 1923 to 1977, and closed due to lack of attendance and storm damage in late 1977. Marcia Brancato Accurso's grandfather, Salvatore "Sam" Brancato, a Sicilian immigrant and blacksmith by trade, came to the United States in 1896. After settling …
Fairyland Park was an amusement park, located at 7501 Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. It operated from 1923 to 1977, and closed due to lack of attendance and storm damage in late 1977. Marcia Brancato Accurso's grandfather, Salvatore "Sam" Brancato, a Sicilian immigrant and blacksmith by trade, came to the United States in 1896. After settling in Kansas City, he went into the grocery business, then began buying real estate. He opened Fairyland Park in 1923. It remained in family ownership until its closing in 1977, one year after Brancato's passing in 1976. Admission to blacks was only to private groups and employees, until 1964. After protest marches, demonstrations, and arrests for blocking the entrance, general admission was desegregated. Admission cost to the park was kept low, 25 cents by 1971. A storm in late 1977, which by some accounts was "a wind storm" or "a tornado", caused extensive damage to the park. This, combined with the nearby park Worlds of Fun caused the venerable park to close.
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