Fire at the Old Mill

Saturday, June 5, 1915

Fire swept the Old Mill ride at Rock Springs Park taking the lives of three children who were attending a school picnic day. Read more at http://rockspringspark.blogspot.com/2011/03/accidents-and-injuries-at-rock-springs.html.

A Walk Through the Park in 1906

What features and attractions greeted excursionists to Rock Springs Park in the early C.A. Smith Years? The Transit Journal of 1906 gives us a nice tour of the grounds and provides details not previously known about a public kitchen and a few other surprises.Entrance to Rock Springs Park is through an artistic gateway which opens directly on to the main walk. The first building is the aquarama, or old mill, at the side of which is a check room where packages, lunch baskets and wraps are cared for. Opposite the check room on the right of the main walk are located the public dining room and kitchen for use of excursionists and picnic parties. Here are seats and tables, and hot and cold water for making tea and coffee are supplied free. Another public dining room has lately been added to accommodate those who cannot find room elsewhere. In addition to these dining rooms for the use of basket parties, there is a well-equipped restaurant where meals are served for the convenience of those who do not care to carry their own lunches.Following up the main walk the visitor comes to the theater, which has a seating capacity for 1400 people. Here high-class vaudeville entertainments are given every afternoon and evening.
Near the theater are the lake and swimming pool. The grounds around the lake have been left in their natural state except that walks have been laid out, trees trimmed, and the grounds improved to make the hillside attractive and easy to access without destroying the natural scenery. In the midst of this wooded landscape has been erected the band stand where free band concerts are given by celebrated musical organizations. The ground near the crest of the hill has been given over to the best of the usual park attractions, including merry-go-round, mysterious house, penny arcade, roller coaster, photograph gallery, shoot the chutes, pantograph or moving pictures, cafe, souvenir stand, rest houses, baseball grounds and casino. The last-named building has lately been constructed at a cost of $30,000. The ground floor is occupied with Japanese tea house, shooting gallery, bowling alleys and refreshment booths. The second floor is devoted to dancing and is 120 ft. x 150 ft. This building commands a wide outlook over the Ohio Valley.The grounds and a portion of the buildings are owned by the East Liverpool Traction & Light Company, which has lately been purchased by the Ohio Valley Finance Company. The park is leased to C.A. Smith for a term of years, and is managed by J.H. Maxwell, acting for the lessee.

Accidents and Injuries at Rock Springs Park

A recent tornado which wreaked havoc in my present hometown of Greensburg, PA, and the subsequent news videos and images, left me in a somber mood and reminded me of some of the stories of accidents and fatal injuries I uncovered while researching the book.

The Rock Springs Park Scenic Railway opened May 24, 1907. It was built at a cost of $35,000 according to Roy C. Cashdollar’s A History of Chester: The Gateway To The West. It was also reported that a section of the scenic railway was blown down shortly after its completion by a great wind storm and had to be rebuilt at a cost of $4000. The toll for this accident only hurt C.A. Smith’ pocketbook, but other injuries and six deaths, including the tragic fire at the Old Mill, plagued his early years at Rock Springs Park.

Although he doesn’t give a full accounting, Roy C. Cashdollar stated that there was a record of six deaths during the existence of Rock Springs Park. “There were four in the old mill, one on the swings, and one on the Cyclone.” He also mentioned “two drownings and several near drownings in the park pool.”

Jun 19, 1913 – Fred Schoen, aged 20 years, was drowned while swimming in the pool at Rock Springs Park. Schoen ventured into the deep section of the pool and when last seen was sitting on the sidewalk. Apparently his body had been submerged at least 15 minutes before he was discovered missing.

The Hudson Independent of Hudson, Ohio, reported on July 2, 1914, that a girl accidentally dropped 15 feet through a hole in the Rock Springs Park baseball grandstand. “Hazel, five, daughter of Thomas Martin, suffered two broken ribs, face lacerations and probably internal injuries.”

June 5, 1915 – Four children die as the result of injuries sustained in Old Mill Fire: Albert Rayner, aged 12, of Chester died late Saturday night, as the result of burns, Eva Dales, aged 14, of Newell, died at 11:15 Sunday night, as the result of burns and shock, Miss Glenna Stout, aged 17, of Newell died early Sunday morning as the result of burns. Hyacinth Mackey, aged 16, of Newell, burned about the face, head and arms died two weeks later.

This news brief appeared in The Baltimore Sun, June 06, 1915. A full accounting of the Old Mill fire including the scene of the aftermath is available in Images of America: Rock Springs Park (see pp. 29-30).

In 1916, the second balcony of the bath house collapsed while spectators gathered at one corner to watch a drowning woman being rescued from the pool. Fire destroyed the bath house, ice house and Summer Theater in 1917 and two dance pavilions were destroyed by fire during the Smith Years. Today most amusement park accidents are required to be reported to regulatory authorities. They usually fall into one of the following categories:

*Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.

*The result of a guest's known or unknown health issues.

*Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.

*Act of God or a generic accident (eg slipping and falling), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: There were more than 15,000 amusement ride-related injuries in 2005 in the U.S.