Chapman Fun World spotlighted in new book on bygone era of roadside attractions

Note: Justin Beahm will have a book signing at Half Price Books, 1400 Twixt Town Rd NE, Marion, from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, May 25, 2025.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Filmmaker and writer Justin Beahm remembers racing to the spaceball cages as soon as his parents paid admission at Chapman Fun World during his youth.

“It was the only option in the Cedar Rapids area for that kind of thing, so it was a hot spot for birthdays and lazy summer days,” Beahm, 48, recalled.

That former hot spot is among 27 past amusement parks and roadside attractions included in Beahm’s new book, “Roadside Memories: Beloved and Bizarre Attractions from North America’s Past,” from Crestwood House Publishing.

The Cedar Rapids man, a member of the Producer’s Guild of America, is a director, editor, writer and voiceover artist, who hosts events and film festivals, including his own indie screening series at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Los Angeles.

He is also a feature writer for cinema publications Fangoria, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Delirium, Horrorhound, Rue Morgue, Scream (UK) and ReMIND magazine.

It was in his role with ReMIND that Beahm found his inspiration for “Roadside Memories,” which was just released in February 2025.

After being brought in as a guest editor for two October issues of ReMIND, Beahm pitched the idea for a monthly column, which became the basis for his book.

“I have always been fascinated by abandoned places, especially amusement parks, and thought it would make sense in a retro pop culture magazine like ReMIND because their thing is all nostalgia, and we all have places we used to visit as kids and wish we could return to,” he said.

The resulting 136-page book explores long-lost amusement parks, enchanted forests, houses of horror, strange motels, frontier shootouts, staged train collisions, alien homes, and characters from film, television and comic strips brought to life.

“Some of these attractions endured for generations, others lasted mere months, and a doomed few ended in shocking tragedy, but all left an indelible mark on everyone who passed through their turnstiles,” the book notes.

Because many were gone before Beahm’s time, he dives into newspaper and online archives to unearth these lost attractions and even searches Ebay for “weird vintage postcards,” he said. “That leads me down the rabbit hole.”

Some resulted in disaster, such as Dreamland, which operated from 1904 to 1911 in New York’s Coney Island, and a staged, well-promoted train crash in Texas, in 1896, while others would be unfathomable in today’s world, including a California alligator farm that offered the opportunity for children to ride around the park on alligators fitted with saddles.

Beahm’s book includes postcards that circulated around the world, sharing images from the park.

Chapman Fun World, which operated in Cedar Rapids from 1952 to 2001 featuring go-karts, miniature golf, a water slide and more, is the only Iowa attraction in the book, but a well-known Midwestern site also made the pages.

Beahm spent part of his childhood in the Wisconsin Dells, “the waterpark capital of the world,” giving him special insight into the Fort Dells chapter of the book.

“It was a magical place where the young felt empowered with tin badges, and where we got a taste of grown-up life behind the wheel of vintage cars on rails,” Beahm notes in the book’s introduction. “It made perfect sense, then, that I would choose Fort Dells as the first featured attraction when TVGuide’s ReMIND magazine accepted my pitch for a monthly column about shuttered roadside treasures.”

Beahm’s career has always involved telling people’s stories, so the book “is a natural extension of what I am doing day-to-day,” he said.

His work in film and publishing also provides a common bond with some of the creators of the attractions.

“The most common elements in all these stories are passion and bravery,” he said. “None of this was easy for any of the folks involved in the creation of their venues, and they cast caution aside and decided to give favor to the thrill of creation in effort to entertain strangers. How magical is that? I work in film and publishing and know the joys of creating for others, so I can relate.”

“People fascinate me, and I think we can be doing a lot more culturally to celebrate each other, and ourselves, frankly,” he added. “So much history is lost when someone passes away, but unfortunately that is the time we most often look back on the lives of those around us. My mission going back decades to when I was working for newspapers and local arts magazines in Illinois has always been to shine the spotlight on people who I find interesting, whether they are an artist, performer, or just a neighbor who happens to have a great story to tell and nowhere to tell it.”

When Beahm was assistant editor at the Farmer City Journal in central Illinois, his column, called “80 and Active” involved going to a nursing home and talking to staff and residents about who might make for an intriguing profile.

He found a man there who was an artist and discovered he created the cover art for many of Louis L’Amour’s western novels.

“He opened his tiny closet and there was a box stuffed with dozens of those original paintings,” Beahm said. “The other residents just thought he was a great painter, and nobody in town knew he was responsible for some of the most iconic book covers of all time. That is a great example of how asking around and truly investing in engaging with people can reveal incredible life stories. We all have them. Everyone is so much more incredible than we give ourselves credit for, and I truly delight in connecting with people and setting the stage for them to share.”

Beahm said “Roadside Memories” could find an audience with anyone who might have paid a visit to one of these attractions, transporting them back in time to vacation adventures.

“It is also of interest to the people who live near any of the places profiled. Like I said in relation to Wisconsin Dells, being around the many parks and stand-alone venues that were always changing year-to-year was a perpetual thrill,” he said. “Outside of all of that I think anyone intrigued by offbeat American cultural history would love to take a trip through these pages.”

The book notes that “these are stories of creative bravery and a chronicle of what can be achieved when we insist our dreams should become reality,” and that is the heart of all these tales, Beahm said.

“Every single attraction profiled started with someone deciding they would do whatever it took to bring something unusual to life, and many of them suffered for their efforts,” he said. “Being a pioneer isn’t easy, regardless of the field someone chooses to work in, but to have zero guarantee of any kind of return on what are often outrageous projects takes a tenacity and passion that most would find reckless. I deeply admire all of these creatives and find inspiration in every new story I uncover.”

“Roadside Memories” can be ordered online in paperback or Kindle at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and signed copies are available from his website, JustinBeahm.com