Author/ teacher Joe Comm and his book, Images of America Rock Springs Park are featured in the current edition of “Western Pennsylvania History Magazine.”
Comm contributed to an article by noted Lincoln Highway writer and Heinz History Museum’s publication editor, Brian Butko, by helping to solve an eighty-year old mystery.
In the magazine’s Summer 2001 story, Butko had asked readers for the identification of an unknown man shown in a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of the William Penn Highway (Route 22) and the Lincoln Highway (Route 30) in 1930. Comm recognized the man from his book research.
Butko writes in the winter publication, “Joseph Comm sent a news clipping from 1930 describing the highway dedication ceremony. Joe researches and writes about now-defunct Rock Springs Park that was the pride of Chester, West Virginia. The beloved amusement park down the Ohio River was a regular summer visit for many Pittsburghers. The rerouted Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30 took drivers right past the park.”
Butko's article features photographs of the park contributed by Comm, including a delightful image of the steamship Homer Smith along the Mon Wharf in Pittsburgh, 1928, with a banner reading “All Day Excursion to Rock Springs Park.”
Joe is available for slide show book talks and book signings. More information about the book and the eighty-year old mystery can be found on this blog under the titles “Governor of WV Attends Celebratory Lunch at Park” and “Miss West Virginia at Rock Springs Park.”
