Wintering in Rock Springs Park 1946

65 years ago this month, Bob Hand, owner of Rock Springs Park, Chester, WV, and his family were wintering in their log cabin at Rock Springs Park, according to Billboard magazine, January 12, 1946. The news brief under the headline, “While Strolling Through the Park,” in the “Parks-Resorts-Pools” section (p57), explained that Bob had just been released from the army, and planned to reopen the park for the first time since the start of WWII. At the time the article was written, the park was already operating Virginia Gardens as a skating rink and by July 13th of that same year, the park was open daily, excluding Mondays. 30,000 customers visited Rock Springs on July 4th even though only four rides were in operation: the Cyclone, Aerial Planes, Merry-Go-Round and Octopus. Other attractions that summer were the Penny Arcade, bingo, lead gallery, Funhouse, boating, and dancing with Eddie McGraw’s band. The concrete swimming pool was not in operation and unfortunately would never re-open due to the shortage of supplies needed for repairs after the war.