Ramona Park, an amusement park owned and operated by the Grand Rapids Street Railway Company, was a destination spot for thousands of families between 1897 and 1955. It was very common in those days for a public transportation company to own parks like it. They were known as trolley parks, and were placed at the end of the line to attract or encourage the use of the public transportation system. The Ramona Theatre Pavilion was built in 1897 on the West Side of the Park on Lakeside Drive, overlooking Reeds Lake. It was an extremely popular summertime venue that could seat 1,700 people. Popular plays, musicals, Vaudevillian and burlesque acts, silent films, talkies and favorite local and national entertainers, such as Will Rogers, appeared at the theater during its heyday. The theater was torn down in 1949 and the site is now occupied by the Lakewood Hills apartments. Into the 1950s, the Ramona Show Boat, a paddle wheel steam boat, circled the lake during live shows. When Ramona Park was replaced with a shopping center and apartment complex, the showboat was removed to Lowell, Michigan.