C.C. Macdonald's Park

“Charles (C.C.) Macdonald and wife, Grace, owners of Summit Park in Akron, Ohio, purchased Rock Springs Park in 1926. Macdonald pledged, according to Susan Weaver in a 1985 edition of Goldenseal Magazine, “to bring the park back in popularity and in improvements to the days when it was a popular playground and outing spot in West Virginia.” Part of Macdonald’s plan to modernize the park included replacing the scenic railway with a $25,000 state-of-the-art wooden roller coaster, adding a small zoo, and upgrading the dance pavilion, which he christened “Virginia Gardens” in honor of his eighteen-year old daughter. For two seasons the park saw record attendance and profits leading former owner C.A. Smith to comment that the crowds were the largest he had ever seen within the gates of the park.”

The quote above is taken from the text of Images of America: Rock Springs Park. It was ironic to me that although C.C. Macdonald’s Rock Springs Park is the one older folks remembered in my youth and the one during which crowds were the largest, it was also the era with the fewest photographs. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that his years were cut short by the Great Depression. It is only now that pictures are resurfacing which show the 1920s’ park packed with patrons. Above shows the Cylone waiting platform and below the crowded Aeroplane queue (Courtesy of Debra Urie Lugano).

Fate of the Famed Carousel

Friday, July, 19, 1912

Dever-Reed Reunion at Rock Springs Park.

On this date in Rock Springs Park history, the eighth annual reunion of the Dever and Reed families was held at Rock Springs Park, Chester, W. Va.

Representatives of the two families were present from Harding County, Cleveland, New Philadelphia, Steubenville, Wellsville, East Liverpool, Lisbon, Beaver Falls, Washington, Pa., and Hookstown.

The party enjoyed a basket picnic and a special program of music and speech making. A family group picture was taken of the party by a special artist.

Friday, July 19, 1985

Also on this date, An Evening Review article by Susan M. Weaver updated readers on the whereabouts of Rock Springs’ Carousel. “THE PRESENT OWNER is the Freels Foundation, which is a non-profit organization for the preservation of carousels. Foundation President Larry Freels had stated that this particular Dentzel model is one of the finest carousels in the nation. The Foundation was located in San Francisco and its plans called for the establishment of a museum there, where the carousel of Rock Springs Park was supposed to be exhibited. At the time of the story, the machine was still stored in the same two trailers in which it left Chester (1985).” The museum eventually auctioned off Rock Springs’ Dentzel and at present it is available for purchase from Brass Ring Entertainment and is still in those original crates. See it at http://carousel.com/antique/AntiqueDentzelCarousel.html.