Almost Heaven Lincoln Highway

The Almost Heaven Lincoln Highway book I mentioned back on October 7 is now for sale at Blurb Bookstore. The cover of the book uses what appears to be a foggy early morning black and white photograph of the Almost Heaven sign in the front yard of the Rustic Log Home which originally sat at the southern end of the midway in Rock Springs Park. In fact, there is no title font on the book's cover; the sign in the photograph says it all.

A hardcover ImageWrap copy of the book is $75.95 and the softcover is $56.95.

The website describes the book as "an odyssey along the Lincoln Highway with Kass and Eric Mencher as they search for the people and places that shape a complex country in unexpected ways. The Menchers focus on both the mundane and the unordinary, piecing together a nuanced and textured portrait of life along the nation's first cross-country road."

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.

Couple Elope from Rock Springs

At the dawn of the 20th Century, many couples were wed in Rock Springs Park. Ceremonies were conducted atop the Shoot-the-Chutes Bridge.

I have read several newspaper articles featuring weddings held in the outdoors at Rock Springs Park. Two such stories and photographs appear in my book, Images of America: Rock Springs Park. The first, at the top of page 12, is of a wedding party posing casually in the park in 1889 and the second, on the book’s dedication page, a couple being married under a white canopy on the arched bridge which spanned the Shoot-the-Chutes Ride in 1908. Below, however, is an article from the Youngstown Vindicator from August 10, 1902, that tells of a couple eloping from Rock Springs Park and being married “over the wire” in Lisbon, Ohio.

All that remains of the Shoots Ride Bridge are the cement supports that were partially buried under landfill and used to line the drive of the log house when it was moved to its present location in 1974.Fact: The first telephone call was made by Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, when he called to his assistant, Thomas Watson: "Mr. Watson--come here--I want to see you." on March 10, 1876.

First Post-War Tri-State Community Picnic

The First Post-War Tri-State Community Picnic was held on Wednesday, August 6, 1947. The celebration was sponsored by The East Liverpool Junior Chamber of Commerce. The Program included a treasure hunt and penny scramble for the kids, Tom Brenneman’s “Breakfast in Hollywood” show, and a quiz program featuring East Liverpool trivia.

Orchestra leader Bobby Byrne, best remembered for his romantic but forceful trombone style, presented a one-hour “top flight” musical revue, according to the souvenir program. Byrne long expressed an interest in flying and served as both a bandleader and a pilot during the war. He had only been discharged in 1945 and had been freelancing around the New York City area until forming a new orchestra in 1946.

Music and contests were the theme of the day at the First Post-War Tri-State Community Picnic with the top prize being a 1947 Four-Door Ford Sedan. The drawing was held at the entrance to Virginia Gardens. Even the souvenir program itself was numbered for a contest drawing. To end the evening, a queen was crowned at midnight. Valley Motor Transit had buses running between the park and the terminal at East Liverpool all day with the last bus departing after the dance at 1:00 AM. Advanced dance tickets were $2.50 and the cost at the door was an additional 25 cents.

Rock Springs Park had been closed during the war with the Hand Family only returning to the log house in the winter of 1946. Owner Bob Hand had just been released from the army, and reopened the park for the first time since the start of WWII that summer.

Click below and enjoy a great sampling of Bobby Byrne’s Orchestra.