Fourth of July a Big Day at the Park

The Fourth of July was the biggest day of the year at Rock Springs Park for many decades. Some of the more notable July 4 events are featured in today’s patriotic installment of “This Day in Rock Springs Park History.”


Monday, July 4, 1927

Former owner C.A. Smith commented that the crowd attending the Fourth at Rock Springs Park in the new Macdonald Era was “the largest he had ever seen within the gates of the park at the noon hour.” But was Macdonald the new owner or just the lessee? Read more at http://rockspringspark.blogspot.com/2011/03/70000-buys-park-in-1950.html.

Friday, July 4, 1930

"Rock Springs Fete"

"Doc" Perkins and his Iowans will play for dancing at Rock Springs Park tomorrow, and the Conley Trio will put on its high pole act, with fireworks display to close the Independence Day celebration. Bob Fisher and his Five Fearless Flyers will open an engagement at the park next week. (The Pittsburgh Press, July 3, 1930.)

Saturday, July 4, 1936

Excursion to Rock Springs Park on Steamer Washington. Leave Pittsburgh 9:00 a.m. Return 11:00 p.m. Arrive at Park 2:00 p.m. and Leave 5:00 p.m. Daylight Savings Time. Adult $1.00 Round Trip Fare, Children 50 cents. Celebrate the 4th on the Ohio. Dancing, entertainment, cafeterias serving lunch and refreshments. (The Pittsburgh Press, June 26, 1936.)


Sunday, July 4, 1954

Safe crackers make off with $8000 in Fourth of July receipts after breaking into the Rock Springs Park office and old fashioned double-door safe. Read the article at http://rockspringspark.blogspot.com/2010/08/safe-crackers-enjoy-picnic-in-rock.html.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read

Most of us understand that not everything we read, especially on the internet, is true. As a teacher, I believe everyone should read, and read a lot. But don’t just take the author’s word for it. Don’t think that just because it’s published that the ideas were necessarily vetted.

The clipping above is a nice encapsulation of this lesson. It shows the midway of Rock Springs Park at the turn of the last century, including owner C.A. Smith’s crown jewel “The World’s Greatest Scenic Raiway” (right). A few of the caption facts are accurate, like the detail about the slow moving scenic ride being replaced by The Cyclone Roller Coaster and the fact that Smith owned the traction company, but many other “facts” are misleading or utterly wrong.

Here’s a few examples:

1. This photograph could not have been taken in 1898 as The World’s Greatest Scenic Railway was not constructed until 1906.

2. The Cyclone was profitable, but not for Smith. It was built as part of the park’s revitalization under C.C. Macdonald in 1926.

3. C.A. Smith sent park manager Mr. (J.H.) Maxwell not “Mr. Michaels” to Philadelphia for the plans for the Scenic Railway ride and not The Cyclone.

4. It was the Scenic Railway and not the Cyclone which cost 5 cents a ride and made back Smith’s investment in its first year of operation. The Cyclone cost three 5-cent tickets or in some cases "two nickels and a bottle cap" per ride.

Fans of Rock Springs Park appreciate any coverage the park receives in local newspapers and most especially seeing wonderful images of the park such as this one. But when it comes to the facts and details of the park’s history listen to your grandpa and “Don’t believe everything you read.”



A Unique Baseball Offer

Saturday, May 9, 1908


On this date in Rock Springs Park history, owner C.A. Smith and his partner, park manager J.H. Maxwell, come up with a "unique offer” to buy out their only competition - The East Liverpool Exhibition Company in order to take control of the Upper Ohio Valley's baseball business. The monies were raised by offering fans $4.00 a share in the Ohio and Pennsylvania (O&P) League payable in ten admission tickets to the games at Rock Springs Park. See the article at http://rockspringspark.blogspot.com/2011/08/unique-offer.html.

A Tale of Two Bridges

Rock Springs Park owes its birth and death to two different bridges which spanned the Ohio River from East Liverpool to Chester, WV over the course of a century.


1. The Chester Bridge (1897 – 1969)

It was no mere coincidence that the Chester trolley line ended at the entrance to Rock Springs Park. Trolley companies around the country started building amusement parks at the end of their lines to build ridership and increase profits on weekends.

In 1890, East Liverpool attorney James (J.E.) McDonald purchased 170 acres of the Marks estate with a plan to commercialize the spring grove by building a local amusement park in conjunction with a new bridge project and street car line. Despite several setbacks, work on the bridge and park began in 1895.

The 1,466 foot Chester Bridge was completed in just over a year and the trolley had its first run on May 26, 1897. Three days later, on Memorial Day 1897, Rock Springs Park had its official opening, where more than 5000 jammed the dance pavilion, café, dining hall, shooting gallery, bowling alleys, walked the shady paths or watched a ballgame.

The bridge, the new town of Chester and the park were all part of J.E. McDonald’s plan to open up the south side of East Liverpool to investors and future home and business owners. A 1905 brochure explained, "A long graceful suspension bridge binds East Liverpool to Chester. Improvements in the course of its erection include street paving, street cars, and the beautiful Rock Springs Park."

Rock Springs Park owner, C.A. Smith purchased the Chester Bridge in 1901. The trolley line was discontinued in 1937 and Smith sold the bridge the following year to the State of Ohio for $2,185,000.

Smith made “Ripley's Believe It Or Not” in 1935 when the bridge was rebuilt without stopping traffic.

“Under Smith,” according to Roy C. Cashdollar, “the bridge was very prosperous with it being a vital part of the highway system known as the Lincoln Highway - U.S. Route 30 with thousands of autos traveling it. It was reported that it brought an approximate $360,000 in proceeds the last year of private ownership. The state of Ohio continued it as a toll bridge until June of 1951, when passage between Chester and East Liverpool became free. In 1969, it was closed by the State of Ohio as it was considered unsafe for use.”

For eight years Chester and East Liverpool had no direct connection. The closest passage was across the privately owned toll-bridge at Newell. But meanwhile plans were made and several sites considered for a new safer truss bridge to be constructed. Eventually it was decided that Route 30 entering Chester from Pennsylvania to the southeast could be widened into lands owned by Rock Springs Park and the new bridge crossing over Carolina Avenue into Chester could touch down near the park’s midway.


2. The Jennings Randolph Bridge (1977 – present)

(Courtesy of Rob Morrow)

The Youngstown Vindicator reported on the grand opening of the new bridge on November 8, 1977. “For the first time in eight years, there is now a direct link between East Liverpool and Chester, W. Va. A new, $26-million, four-lane bridge was dedicated here Monday”

The dedication ceremony included governors, mayors and the bridge’s namesake West Virginia State Senator Jennings Randolph. "A crowd of 2,000 witnessed the rain-shortened ceremonies held on one of the approach ramps leading to the superstructure. Musical selections were played by the East Liverpool High School Band and the Oak Glen High School Band near Chester."

In all the fanfare no mention is given in the Vindicator article about the loss of Rock Springs Park. However it does mention the old bridge. “The new bridge replaces the old Chester Bridge, a two-lane structure built in 1989 and determined to be unsafe for vehicle traffic in 1968. A deteriorated support cable on the Ohio side was blamed for the closing of the bridge to all traffic on May 14, 1969. The bridge was demolished a year later."

Many area bridges were closely inspected in 1968 following the collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, WV a year earlier. The Chester Bridge was mentioned by name in an article which appeared in the Pittsburgh Press a week after the tragedy which took 46 lives. “Ohio Highway Director P.E. Masheter ordered an ‘immediate’ inspection of three Ohio River bridges owned by the state. These are the Pomeroy Bridge, which drew heavy traffic in the wake of the collapse of the Silver Bridge; the Fort Steuben Bridge at Steubenville, and the Chester Bridge at East Liverpool.”

A 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies, claimed that Mothman was related to a wide array of supernatural events in the area including the collapse of the Silver Bridge. The 2002 film starring Richard Gere was based on the book.

1940 Census, Part II: The Finley Brothers and C.A. Smith

In the first part of this series of blog posts, I told of Clarence Durbin and Alvin and Hazel Babb who worked at Rock Springs Park and lived in my neighborhood in Chester, according to the recently released 1940 U.S. Census Records. Being a big fan of the park’s history and an author of a book on the subject it was interesting to discover that many influential park workers and performers lived just a few doors down from my old stomping grounds.

Just around the bend on 3rd Street from my house growing up in Chester were The Finleys. The friendly couple lived in one of only two ranch-style homes in the neighborhood made up of mostly two-story clapboards. I passed the Finleys' house daily on my way to school or the family drugstore in town. Their home was bordered on one side by a concrete Lincoln Highway marker and on the other by a house near the old bridge over the railroad tracks which had a small monkey tied to a tree in the backyard in summer. The concrete marker was something to leap frog and the monkey was vastly entertaining to kids in the neighborhood.

The Finleys would often sit on their small front porch and greet me on my way to and from town. What I didn’t realize at the time was Mr. Finley was a member of The Finley Family in town. The Finley Brothers Construction Company built nearly every iconic building in Rock Springs Park, including the octagonal carousel pavilion, and just about every other building in Chester as well. According to Sayre Graham, Jr., whose father worked for the company, they built the Chester High School, the City Hall, and C.A. Smith’s huge cattle barn at Hillcrest (seen above) among others.

The 1940 Census tells us that the Mr. Finley I knew was not one of the original Finley Brothers, but most likely a son or nephew. Listed was Joseph Finley who owned an older home across the alley from where the ranch house would later sit. Today 315 Third Street has a pool in its side yard. In 1940, the house and property are listed at a value of $6,000 and Joseph is identified as being 75-years old and head of the household he shared with his wife Ella and two daughters. His occupation is “contractor – lumber and building” and even at 75, he was not retired with number of hours worked during the week of March 24-30 listed as forty-four.

I am assuming at this time, until confirmed, that the Robert Finley residing at nearby 253 Virginia Avenue, my old street, was another Finley Brother. At age 69 Robert with his wife “Ollie” and son Robert, Jr. age 29. (Could Robert, Jr. be the Mr. Finley I knew?) Robert, Sr. was a carpenter at the lumber company, so I am sure he was a Finley Brother of the construction trade.

If only my interest in the Rock Springs Park had been as great back in the 1970s as it is today, I’m sure all of my Finley neighbors would have had some interesting stories to tell of the park and their buildings which I so admire. I did, however, have the occasion to visit the home of the other subject of this post that of C.A. Smith.

In 1978 I was asked to meet a fellow thespian to run lines for a high school production of the musical “Oliver!” at the old Smith residence. The cast member was playing the Artful Dodger and was a cousin of the William A. Watson Family who owned the big house on the terraced hillside at the time. She was one of two female Artful Dodges to play opposite my part in the show. My interest in the house at that time was not so much the fact that it had once been owned by former Rock Springs Park owner C.A. Smith but that it had an elevator inside. When we finished practicing our parts in the living room of the largest house in town, Jack Dawkins and Oliver Twist, of course, rode the elevator to the second floor. “Consider yourself at home!”

1978 Oak Glen High School Little Theatre Production of "Oliver!" I was too old for the part of Oliver Twist (red vest right).

By the time the census was taken in 1940, C.A. Smith was no longer the lessee or manager of Rock Springs Park. Since 1926, the park had been leased to C.C. Macdonald and by 1935 managed by his daughter Virginia and her husband Bob Hand.

On the census, the 73 year-old Smith is listed as “Corporate Exec” and “Pottery Mag.” (I wonder if “mag” is magnate.) It is interesting to note that Smith is listed at the top of the census chart (see image 1, above), most likely because his was the first home, geographically speaking, along Pyramus Avenue. But it is not too difficult to picture him making it a point with the census taker to be listed above everyone else. He had that kind of influence. His home was valued at $25,000 or 1 million in today's dollars.

The Smith residence is only one of two Chester homes I have come across in the 1940 census so far to have servants. The other, listed directly below C.A. Smith on the document is brother, William Smith, pottery salesman. The C.A. Smith household lists as its permanent residents: C.A., wife Mary E., and servants Ada Mobley and William DeVaugin. Mobley, age 46, was the cook and Devaugin, age 77 Mr. Smith’s butler. Mobley lists her birthplace as Jacksonville, Florida, while Devaugin’s is Camden, New Jersey.

Rock Springs Coal Mine

Rock Springs Park owner, C.A. Smith, also operated a coal mine along the west bank of Beaver Creek near Island Run (downstream from Grimm's Bridge in image). The mine supplied coal to generate electricity for the streetcars, the city of East Liverpool, and the park. It was at the end of a 3-mile off-shoot or spur of The East Liverpool Traction & Light trolley line at the Pennsylvania and Ohio border northeast of Chester. It was common practice at this time for trolley generating plants to supply streetlights and homes with electricity before city power plants were built.

Coal was extracted from the hillside mine in large buckets hoisted from the depths of the earth and carried along a 1500 foot cable to the tipple. Images of the mine and tipple can be viewed at http://www.eastliverpoolhistoricalsociety.org/trolley5.htm. According to this website, “The so-called Island Run electric line was used until 1917 when C.A. Smith found that he could purchase cheaper power downriver.”
Fact from the site http://www.trolleystop.com/trolleycar.htm: Many trolley companies built and operated amusement parks along their lines, as a way of generating extra revenue, during the warm weather months. Before automobiles became available to the general public, many people would ride the trolleys, out to the company owned amusement park, to relax and enjoy their free time. So, the trolley companies not only made money, from the fares people paid to ride the trolleys to the amusement park, but they also made money, charging admission to the park, and selling tickets for the various rides in the park.

Happy Birthday C.A.

Sunday, April 14, 1867

On this date in history, Rock Springs Park owner, Charles (C.A.) Smith, was born in Wellsville, Ohio, where he began his climb from gas company waterboy to one of the Ohio Valley's wealthiest men. He was a noted transit company owner, pottery manufacturer, oil operator and gentleman farmer.

His obituary (below), which appeared in the Youngstown Vindicator on October 14, 1953, lists even more accomplishments. Smith’s death occurred almost three years to the day after he sold Rock Springs Park to Bob and Virginia Hand for $70,000 on October 7, 1950. (Click on image to enlarge.)


I Love this story about Smith told by Roy Cashdollar, "Mr. Smith was stopped by a State trooper on his way to New Cumberland, and Mr. Smith liked to travel fast as he was always in a hurry. He told the officer to make two citations as he would soon be coming back and traveling just as fast."

Piece of Rock Springs' History to Be Restored

(The C.A. Smith House in 1910, prior to an addition which was added in the 1930s.)

The Fox Family, owners of the retirement community The Orchards at Foxcrest, purchased the C.A. Smith House last month. The house belonged to one-time Rock Springs Park Owner, Charles A. Smith. It is one of the first homes people see as they enter Chester, WV, from East Liverpool, OH, via the Jennings Randolph Bridge. It is also shown in a number of vintage postcard pictures on the terraced hillside above the lower entrance gate and trolley loop (see above).

In an article which appeared in the East Liverpool Review on February 12, 2012, Jim Fox is quoted as saying, “Driving past this house every day on your way to work, we've seen the hard times that it underwent and we just felt that it was really important for Chester for this home to be restored back to its rightful place. Our main goal right now is just to restore it and to get it back to the point where it's not going to fall down." Fox does not say what might become of the property after the restoration but adds, “We have a lot of different ideas about what it could be used for. After we get in here and start working, we'll have a better idea of what potential there is for what it could be. It's a gorgeous, old home with a lot of history."

I agree and have a few ideas of my own, like perhaps a Rock Springs Park History Museum.

Read the full article here.

The Old Stone House: Part 4

For decades train excursionists would disembark on Ninth Street and walk past the Old Stone House (green arrow) on their way to a day of fun at Rock Springs Park.

Eighth-grader John Chaney wrote a story about his favorite house in Chester, West Virginia, the Old Stone House in the city’s “upper end.” His story became a two-year research project in high school and a book in 1966.

Chaney wrote that he often wondered about the family that built the Old Stone House. One story he discovered claimed that George Washington owned the land as it was given to him by the state of Virginia for services rendered during the French and Indian War. The grant was for 1,000 acres and included "a one-half mile frontage on the Ohio River, extending from the mouth of Mark's Run and extending back from the river, through the center of what is now Rock Springs Park to a point south of Lawrenceville."

The land and the house, once the property of the Mark’s Family came under the ownership of C.A. Smith in 1900. Both were part of a deal struck with Rock Springs Park owner J.E. McDonald. Smith built his own home slightly to the west and just above the Old Stone House on Pyramus Avenue, a vantage point that gave him an unobstructed view of his pottery and his newly acquired amusement park. Smith’s home was built with all the latest modern conveniences on a terraced hillside with beautiful landscaping, but the Old Stone House below was a mere shell of its former self, having been raided and lived in by wandering vagrants.

Chaney wrote, "Mr. McDonald let the Old Stone House stand open for a period of time. During this time it became a stopping place for hoboes. People came to the house and took away anything that wasn't nailed down - windows, glass, window frames, fixtures of all kinds, doors, and any woodwork. The house was truly a big mess."

It did not take long before Mrs. C.A. Smith decided to fix up the house for her son "Dunc" Smith. The inner walls were completely removed and the house was reinforced with steel rods and a stucco addition which added a larger kitchen downstairs and an additional bathroom upstairs. These changes and others saved the Old Stone House from total destruction and have kept the dwelling habitable for over 100 years.

The Old Stone House as it looks today. Present owners are “Rusty” and Janice Smith (Courtesy of Vicki Robinson Jordan).

Cattle Barn Remains

(Courtesy of Sayre W. Graham, Jr.; from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr.)

In my previous blog entry, I posted this image of Rock Springs Park owner – C.A. Smith’s cattle barn. The image is from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr. and was shared by his son, Sayre, Jr.

Curious about the location of the barn in what had been the Hill Crest Farms property along Smith Road in New Cumberland, WV, I made an attempt to locate the only remains of the barn, its silo, using Google Maps’ satellite feature. Unfortunately, I was not able to zoom in enough to make out the silo from Google, but Sayre, Jr., who still lives in the area, went to the site and took this terrific shot of the silo this week.

He wrote, “I took a ride over Smith Road on the way home today. I've seen this silo many times but I never knew about the Smith barn.”

(Courtesy of Sayre W. Graham, Jr.)

I mistakenly referred to the original image above as a postcard, but Sayre, Jr. pointed out that it is one of many promotional photographs taken of structures built by the Finley Brothers Construction Company of Chester, WV, of which Sayre W. Graham, Sr. was a trusted employee for many years. Finley Bros. constructed many buildings in the area, including several structures in Rock Springs Park, the City Hall, and Chester High School. After Bob Finley retired, Sayre Graham, Sr. started Graham Construction and built the IGA and the VFW in town. Bob then came out of retirement and worked for Graham.

It is interesting to note that the roof of the barn did not have any supports, but was “a clear span from end to the other,” according to one-time Chester resident Barry Smith on Facebook’s “You grew up in Chester or Lawrenceville if you remember...” page.

C.A. Smith the Tri-State Area’s Howard Hughes

When the image above was posted on Facebook’s “You grew up in Chester or Lawrenceville if you remember...” page, I commented, “It's like the ‘Spruce Goose’ of cattle barns.” A neighbor of mine from Chester responded, “C.A. Smith - the Howard Hughes of the Tri-State Area!”

The "Spruce Goose" was Hughes's monumental failure, a heavy transport aircraft made almost entirely of birch rather than spruce as the name implies. Smith's cattle farm was anything but.

The image is from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr. and was uploaded to FB by his son Sayre, Jr., who gave me permission to share it on my blog. I thought it a great way to remind readers of C.A. Smith’s second or perhaps third or fourth career after oil, rail, and Rock Springs Park, his beloved Hillcrest Farms and his prized bulls.

Like Howard Hughes of Texas, Smith did more in his lifetime to bring fame to our area than all the other developers combined. Smith’s Hillcrest Farms were known the world over and brought thousands of people to the area. He served as president of the Hereford Association of America.

The huge Cattle Barn was located along present day “Smith Road” near Route 8 in New Cumberland, WV. One Facebook contributor from Chester noted, “This was right above my house years ago. Only thing still standing is the silo. It was a beautiful place in its day. The State bought the property several years ago and it is now state game lands.”

Roy C. Cashdollar noted in his History of Chester:

Picturesque Hillcrest Farms, which was Smith's principal interest the last ten years of his life, took form in 1917. He went into the Hereford cattle business in 1918 and began producing the championship stock. The herd at one time numbered seven hundred head.

From Hillcrest came a grand champion bull of the Chicago International Livestock Exposition in 1947, 1949, and 1951 and the grand champion finale at Chicago in 1950 and 1951. Grand champions also paraded before judges at the Baltimore and Kansas City shows and others. Smith had the "best ten head" at Chicago in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1951.

In 1950, Smith sold one of his prize bulls to Henry Sears of Chestertown, Maryland for $70,500, a record price at that time. In January of 1951, a world’s record was set when a half interest in his main breeding bull - HC Larry Domino 12th, was sold for $105,000, to E. C. McCormick, Jr. of Akron. Mr. Smith also had one thousand acres set aside for apple growing.

First Chester Graduation Held at Rock Springs

As if to illustrate the long connection between Rock Springs Park and the local school system, this image shows the parking lot of the old Chester High School transformed into an amusement fair next to the former site of the area’s “Premier Panhandle Playground” – Rock Springs Park.

A recent blog post about the changes to Chester High School over the years made me wonder about the time line of these changes and what was used for secondary education prior to the red brick building constructed by the Finley Brothers in 1928. So, I went to straight to my favorite source, Roy C. Cashdollar's History of Chester: The Gateway to the West for answers. Roy did not disappoint.

In 1906, the first full four-year high school building in Chester was erected at Third Street and Indiana Avenue. Prior to this structure, named Central School (pictured above), children met in homes or in one room buildings. These early schools were not graded, but in 1903, in anticipation of the new brick Central School, the first Chester freshman and sophomore classes were formed in a makeshift school building in town along the north side of Indiana Avenue between Third and Fourth Streets. Called the Mechanics Lodge, it also housed a general store and the post office.

Cashdollar notes, "the first high school graduation ceremony was held in Rock Springs Park on the stage of the old Summer Theater." The graduation class size that year was one, Olive Hamilton, who was the first and only Chester high school graduate in 1906. It was also the only time the theater was used for this purpose. The Summer Theater constructed in 1903 by C.A. Smith burned down in 1917 and was not replaced.

"When a special act of the legislature was made, Chester was organized as an independent school system in 1904. Thomas L. Young, who was the water works superintendent for C.A. Smith was one of the original board members." Roy C. Cashdollar.The Chester High School was constructed "on rather swampy lands" at the corner of Sixth and Indiana Avenue in 1925. It was officially dedicated on January 4, 1926. The original structure consisted of twelve rooms and two additions were added over the years with the largest one being done by through a W.P.A. project during the Depression.

With the construction of the Chester Primary Building (pictured with Rock Springs Park in the background in 1969) and Oak Glen High school in the early 1960s, the Central Building was abandoned in 1963 and razed in 1967, replaced with a playground which still displays the original school bell.

A Unique Offer

In order to take control of the Upper Ohio Valley's baseball business, Rock Springs Park owner, C.A. Smith, and his partner, park manager J.H. Maxwell, came up with a "unique offer” to buy out their only competition - The East Liverpool Exhibition Company in 1908. The monies would be raised by offering fans $4.00 a share in the Ohio and Pennsylvania (O&P) League payable in ten admission tickets to the games at Rock Springs Park. In other words, if one were to purchase ten admission tickets to a game with a face value of 40 cents each, one could use those tickets to buy a single share of stock in the company, making the league one of the first partially community-owned franchises in American professional sports.

Sporting Life Magazine – May 9, 1908

South Side Land Company

To the right of Citizen's Drug Store in downtown Chester, WV, is a red brick building operating with two businesses in both sides. The first side had been Pettabon Ice Cream Parlor and then the original Citizen's Drug Store founded by Max Tuttle, followed by the State Liquor Store. The other side of the building was for many years used by Rock Springs Park owner, Mr. C.A. Smith, as his South Side Land Office and South Side Water Works Office. The building was purchased from Smith by E.G. Jackson who operated his insurance agency there for many years. It most recently housed the Pizza Roma Express Restaurant.

“South Side” refers to the name of the flat headlands of Chester by residents of East Liverpool, Ohio, to the north, before Chester had its name. One theory suggests Smith named Chester after his Uncle Chester Mahon.

"The South Side Land Company under Mr. C. A. Smith (Pictured below) absorbed the city’s water and sewerage systems. Mr. Smith controlled this company as the South Side Water Works until October 3, 1946, when Mayor DeMar Miller and City Clerk, James Paisley, signed for the City of Chester, when they purchased the company for $253,000. Mr. Thomas L. Young, Superintendent of the South Side Water Works for nearly forty years was retained as superintendent for the City." ~Roy C. Cashdollar's History of Chester: The Gateway to the West.













DeMar Miller before becoming Mayor of Chester was an orchestra leader at the world famous Virginia Gardens in Rock Springs Park circa 1928. (Image below courtesy of Jerry Linger. For more information on the band and Linger’s photograph see blog entitled “Facebook Find: Interior Photo of Virginia Gardens” dated Sunday, August 15, 2010.)
The Marks land, a one hundred seventy acre tract that had been bought by J.E. McDonald in 1890, from the Alfred Marks estate for $17,000, was purchased by Smith in 1900 with about eleven acres slated for use as Rock Springs Park which Smith also took over at this time. The land was then promoted by Smith and his South Side Land Company.
In the spring of 1905, Mr. Smith moved into his beautiful new home on Pyramus Avenue, overlooking Rock Springs Park.

Auto Racer in Rock Springs Park

One of my favorite rides in Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh, PA is the Auto Race. It is a fun and rather tame flat ride which allows your child to be the driver of an electric vehicle and puts you, the parent, in the backseat. Unlike Kiddie Turnpike Cars, Auto Race Cars are not limited by a groove or under auto rail. There is some steering control limited only by a trough-like wooden track. Kennywood’s Auto Race also known as the Auto Ride was built in 1930 by the Harry Traver Engineering Company and is the last of its kind. According to Wikipedia, “When it opened in 1930, it had several small hills placed in the track, but these were soon removed due to rear-end collisions caused when cars couldn't get up and over them on rainy days.”

Three years prior to Kennywood’s Auto Race, Rock Springs Park owner C.C. Macdonald drained the splash lagoon of the dismantled Victorian Shoot-the-Chutes Ride (above) and built a raised and twisting Auto Race wooden track within its walls.The photograph above shows the Auto Race track under construction in the splash lagoon pool.This image appeared on a brochure signed by then president of Rock Springs Park, C.C. Macdonald. The image has been enlarged to show riders in cars on the track. Notice the crowd viewing a high wire “free act” next to the Carousel.

A story was told to me at a book talk event which suggested previous owner C.A. Smith, when taking a test run on the Auto Racer in Rock Springs Park, crashed through the guardrail and was seriously injured. I have not been able to verify that story, but do know, if true, he must have fully recovered as he went on to raise prized cattle for several decades after.

See another image of the Auto Ride in Rock Springs Park in my Image book on page 59.

Take the Yellow Car to Indian Rocks

Images of America: Rock Springs Park, page 9, mentions the advertisement (left) featured in Roy C. Cashdollar’s The History of Chester: Gateway to the West. It proclaims that readers should “TAKE THE YELLOW CAR” for a 15-minute trip to Smith’s Ferry, PA, and the site of Native American stone carvings along the banks of the Beaver River. Smith’s Ferry lies just east of the Ohio border near the point where the three states of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania meet.

The urgency in C.A. Smith’s advertisement was prompted by the soon-to-be completed Stratton Dam at New Cumberland, WV, which resulted in burying the ancient petroglyphs under ten feet of water.

Before Dam #8 was erected, the Ohio River was known to dry up at Smiths Ferry. During the dry summer season people traveled by horse and buggy, crossing over the river bed to view the ancient Indian relics. In the 1960s, a drought would allow visitors to view the petroglyphs once more below several inches of water.
(Julia Peck, Milestones Vol 22 No 2, Summer 1997)

The Yellow Car line is the one which served Smith’s Ferry. It started in Beaver, PA, and ran to Steubenville and was called the “Yellow Car Line” for the color painted on the eight street cars that served the route.

“Not far from the park, at the northernmost bend of the Ohio River, a great treaty was made between six powerful Indian nations. This council met at a large flat rock on the beach confirming their peace agreement by carving tribal symbols on the rock face.” Joseph A. Comm, Images of America Rock Springs Park, p. 9


Yellow Car from the Steubenville, East Liverpool & Beaver Valley Traction Co., Kuhlman Car built, 1915. (Caption data from Cliff Scholes, image from the Bill Volkmer collection.)

Three Bears Born at Rock Springs Park

In his third year as manager of Rock Springs Park C. C. Macdonald kicked off the 1928 season with lots of advertising and articles which appeared in local papers. The ads led with the headline “Grand Opening – 1928” and included the motto “Ohio Valley’s Most Picturesque Playground – where the – Famous Rock Spring Flows.” The ad (left) also lists the many features and attractions at Rock Springs. “Many Rides and Amusements, Remodeled Crystal Pool and Boating, and Monkey Island and Goat Mountain.” That last bit refers to two features of a zoo which was located on the hillside above the upper park. (See Images of America: Rock Springs Park, p. 59) Roy Cashdollar spoke fondly of the “little zoo at the end of Lover’s Lane” and Richard (R.Z.) Macdonald told of the many animals he remembered in the zoo from his time growing up in the park. But it was not until I received the article below, from alert reader Jeff Schneidmiller of East Liverpool, OH, that I learned of black bears born in Rock Springs Park.

Source and Date Unknown

BLACK BEARS BORN AT ROCK SPRINGS PARK DURING WINTER

There being at this time only five breeding pairs of black bears in the United States, it is very doubtful if the public realizes the value of such a pair. However, their value seems to be a minor part in comparison with the life of their cubs.

The writer will attempt to give you a short history of Amos, Andy and Ruby, the three cubs, born at Rock Springs Park on the night of January 14th. In the past few years Queen, the mother bear, has been unsuccessful in raising her offsprings [sic]. So this past January, we took it upon ourselves to be mother and father to the little ones, taking them away from their mother when they were about a day old. After a few days, we found ourselves no easy task. We had to feed them with a bottle, and their diet was one of the most studious ones. It consisted of the following: --Skim Milk, Dextras Maltose No. 1, Lime Water, Castor Oil and Honey. At first, they refused the nipple, but as time wore on they took it readily every two hours, night and day. This necessitates two shifts on our part until now we have meal time down pat.

It was surprising how fast they grew. Weighing at the time of birth six ounces, they gained in weight and statue [sic] until now, fifty-eight days after birth, they are eight pounds in weight and as large as a good size poodle dog. At forty days, their eyes began to open, yet they were unable to see. Nature perhaps provides for this, as they are still rather weak in the knees to be walking around. When they will be able to walk and care of [sic] themselves remains to be seen. The night feeder hopes it won't be too long until that night comes when he doesn't have to get up in the cold and administer the bottle.

During the raising of the cubs, Lula, the other female, surprised us with one more cub, however, we decided to let her have the job of raising her own, she seems to be having as much success if not more than we are.

The writer just received word from the nursery, which will sadden the hearts of all concerned. Ruby, the largest, and seemingly the healthiest of all the litter has past into the great beyond, having contracted pneumonia. She died at 11:30 a.m. today. A fitting burial will take place tomorrow and little ruby will be laid to rest with all the pomp and ceremony due her kind.

Loowing [sic] in upon her two brothers, one seems to catch a quiet whine, which may be their crying for their dead sister, or they might be saying: "Come up and see me sometime next summer at Rock Springs Park.”

Jeff sent the above article along with the message, “Here is a another mystery to unravel.”

The mysteries seem to be "Who is the writer?" and "When did this event take place?".

A small zoo was added by C.C. Macdonald when he upgraded the park in 1926. In addition, his other park, Idlewild Park in Ligonier, PA, had a bear den that is still there today next to the roller coaster (see photographs below). Prior to that, C.A. Smith had a Hippodrome or circus-style theater somewhere in the park where elephants and other beasts performed, so the bears could have been born during his tenure as owner . On June 2, 1910, The Daily Times of Beaver, PA reported, “There is a fine bill at the Hippodrome, Rock Springs Park, this week, any of the acts being well worth the price of admission, including Carl Daman Family, Sensational Acrobats; the Orloff Troupe of Famous Russian Gymnasts and Roberti’s Bears, Dogs and Monkeys.”



The key to our latest Rock Springs Park mystery seems to be the names given our three bears: Amos, Andy and Ruby. The names are based on characters from the “Amos ‘n’ Andy Show," a situation comedy set in the African-American community which began on radio in 1925 and continued on television into the 1950s. Although the lead characters were black they were originally created and performed by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, white actors in black face familiar with minstrels, a theatrical tradition that would be considered beyond politically incorrect today. Naming black bears after stereotypical African American characters would be completely unacceptable and racist, but for our mystery, they do provide a time line for Jeff’s article.

Charles Correll ('Andy'-left) and Freeman Gosden ('Amos'-right) at a Chicago book signing, 1929.

Even though C.A. Smith had animal acts, including bears, at Rock Springs, his ownership does not fall within our timeline. It is only C.C. Macdonald and later his daughter Virginia and her Husband Bob Hand who could have been managers when the cubs were born. I’ve seen no evidence of animals in the park during the hand years, but do know, as I stated in my introduction, that Macdonald added a zoo when he upgraded the park in 1926. Further, I know him, or someone writing for him in this period, to be a writer who used details about the park to paint pictures in the reader's mind and always ended with an invitation; something that the writer of Jeff’s article clearly does.

Ruby Dandridge (March 3, 1899 – October 17, 1987) was an American actress from the early 1900s to the 1950s. She is best known for her radio work in her early days of acting, including her namesake character “Ruby” on the “Amos ‘n’ Andy” show. She is the mother of Dorothy Dandridge. (Ruby Dandridge Pictured at Right)

One other potential clue is the writer’s invitation to “Come up and see me sometime,” which may allude to Mae West’s famous line from She Done Him Wrong (1933). But when put in context and read completely, "Come up and see me sometime next summer at Rock Springs Park,” the invitation clearly does not fit with the suggestive nature intended by West’s character - Lady Lou.

So, does anyone know anything about these bears? From what I can gather, it may be from The Macdonald Years (1926 - 1934). If you have further details or thoughts, please leave a comment below.

Author (left) hanging with The Three Bears in Storyland, Stahlstown, PA, on Route 30 the Lincoln Highway in 1967.