Watch! 1960s Memories Of The Binghamton Ross Park Zoo

The greater Binghamton area has a lot of nice things. Take it from someone who comes from a small town where the only cool thing was when the carnival would come to town.

Moving to the Binghamton area, I was impressed to find that the area is home to six carousels, several museums including the Roberson Museum and Science Center, and even a cool Observatory and Science Center at Kopernik.

We have two excellent higher education schools with SUNY Broome and Binghamton University, professional hockey and baseball teams, excellent parks and of course the ever famous Spiedie sandwich.

To a long time resident of the greater Binghamton area, a person may not think much about all that our community has to offer, but for someone who moves to the Greater Binghamton area from a town that has nowhere near as much to offer, it's pretty impressive.

And one thing that most communities don't have, that the Binghamton community does have, its's it's own zoo. That is, the Ross Park Zoo. The Zoo off Morgan Road in Binghamton is the fifth oldest zoo in the United States, having opened in 1875.

The Ross Park Zoo has gone through many changes over those many years, with new additions and features. You may remember back in the day when there was a miniature train that you could ride at the Zoo.

Recently, as I was searching online, I found a video on YouTube from Yankee Reb of a 8mm film taken while at the Ross Park Zoo. I noticed some interesting things, like a camel, a buffalo, and some carnival-type rides including a Ferris Wheel and flying helicopter ride, as well as the Ross Park Carousel.

Were the carnival rides a permanent fixture at the Zoo or were they just a special event? Were there other rides than the three I saw in the video? Do you remember? Well anyway, let's take a look back in time and enjoy the Ross Park Zoo as it looked in the 1960s.