![]() ![]() If you slipped a coin into a slot on the elephant’s back–the legend went–your wish would be granted. The elephant soon got its own legend in Benson’s lore. In 1941, Benson added a “lucky Chinese elephant” to his wild animal farm. He brought in tigers, zebra, fleas for a real-life flea circus, and … A Lucky Concrete Elephant He charged admission, except to Hudson residents who could come in for free.īenson soon discovered that he make more money running a sort of zoo. The business grew.Ī few years later, he opened Benson’s Wild Animal Farm to the public. He brought in wild animals and conditioned them for zoos and circuses. He helped start the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester, Massachusetts as its first curator.īy the early 1920s, he had bought a 200-acre farm in Hudson, NH with a nearby Boston & Maine railroad station. He helped establish zoos in faraway places like Jamaica and Cuba. He stayed and found work buying and selling exotic animals. Twenty years later, around 1890, Benson came to the US for the first time, with an exhibit that featured a wrestling lion. That set the course for the rest of his life. In the circus, he became an animal trainer, like his father. Benson ran away from his home in Dewsbury in the English country of Yorkshire. When he was just eight years old in the late 1870s, John T. kangaroo who ran away from a traveling circus to join Benson’s.īenson’s is a story that starts with ….beloved pet elephant who’s buried on the property, and a. ![]() silverback gorilla who once ran for president Never mind that the story of Benson’s is the story that includes a: The Old Lady in the Shoe (Restored at Benson Park)īut, the long and intricate web of its stories is what makes Benson Park resonate with its visitors from all over New England.The Benson Park A Frame – Once a pizza place and a gift shop.Signs explain what things were and how they were restored.Open daily with free parking and free admission, the park embodies an inspiring story of conservation, restoration, and nostalgia. Reopened to the public in 2010 as Benson Park, the Hudson Department of Public Works maintains its 166 acres today. ![]() Even today, where else can you get ice cream, walk your dog, climb around in a restored gorilla cage, and visit a 9/11 memorial that includes a piece of steel from the elevator shaft of the World Trade Center’s North Tower?īenson’s Wild Animal Farm closed in 1987, but thanks to the restoration efforts of the state of New Hampshire, the town of Hudson, and many in the community, you can still dwell among the ghosts of past childhoods on the property’s restored park structures and its four miles of walking trails. Benson described the zoo he founded in Hudson, NH in 1924.įor nearly a century, Benson’s has been a land of dueling personalities competing for your attention. Benson’s Wild Animal Farm may just have been the “strangest farm on earth.” That’s how John T. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |