About the Author of Images of America: Rock Springs Park

Joseph A. Comm spent his childhood exploring every nook and cranny of his hometown of Chester, West Virginia, but the one place he could not explore was Rock Springs Park, a defunct amusement park which bordered his school’s ball field. The sight of the dilapidated rides and iconic Victorian carousel pavilion which still housed the hand-carved 1927 Dentzel merry-go-round beckoned to a ten-year old Comm, but the “No Trespassing” and “Beware of Dog” signs kept him from hopping the fence and crossing under the wooden supports of the Cyclone roller coaster for a look around; a boyhood fantasy and missed opportunity which led to a lifetime interest in the park.

Comm began researching Rock Springs Park five years ago when writing a children’s novel based on his experiences growing up along the Ohio River – a place once described as “The Showcase of the East.” While researching for that novel, Comm completed a detailed history and time line of Rock Springs Park and in 2008 he shared some of this research online, an effort to attract other fans to share their memories. Kassy Hand, granddaughter of one-time owners Robert and Virginia Hand contacted Comm and urged him to write a book strictly about the park.

Comm studied theater arts and education at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with BA and MAT degrees. He is a gifted support teacher in Western Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife and four children. When not writing he finds time to sing and play his ukulele.

He hopes that Images of America: Rock Springs Park will bring back fond memories and inspire the telling of more stories to a new generation. Comm sees the book as his chance to give back to Chester and the entire Upper Ohio Valley Region on the 40th anniversary of park’s final season.

Book Release Date

I have been given a release date of late May for Images of America: Rock Springs Park and just wanted to take a moment and thank all of those people who have taken the time to share their Rock Springs Park stories and photos with me.

This adventure began four years ago when I started writing a middle grades novel which takes place in the 1970s and uses the then defunct amusement park in Chester, West Virginia as a backdrop.

Organizing my notes on this blog has allowed me to reconnect with my roots and has given me the opportunity to hear from some old friends and new acquaintances, and for that I am grateful.

This truly has been a wonderful journey!

Rock Springs Park Book Coming 2010

After four years of research and five months of intensive work interviewing fans and having lots of "scanning parties," my book about Rock Springs Park is only days away from being sent to the publisher. The book is expected to hit the stores next spring coinciding with the 40th Anniversary of the park's final season -1970.

Here's the information as it will appear on the back cover of Images of America: Rock Springs Park:

Once described as “a place where god and man went fifty-fifty to produce perfection,” Rock Springs Park was an amusement park located along the Lincoln Highway in Chester, West Virginia. In its hey-day this unique panhandle playground attracted twenty thousand visitors a day with a number of popular attractions including the World’s Greatest Scenic Railway, the Cyclone Roller Coaster, and the classic hand-carved 1927 Dentzel Carousel. The book features over 200 rarely seen images and portrays the life of Rock Springs Park from its earliest history as a Native American hunting ground to its development as a local trolley park and full-fledged amusement park. Rock Springs Park hosted business and community picnic excursions, free-acts, and celebrity performers, such as Bobby Vinton who remembers the dances as “a very romantic time…almost like something in the movies. There was the carousel, the guys in white shoes and girls that were all dressed up with their crinoline skirts.”

Joseph A. Comm is an elementary gifted support teacher with an interest in local history. He studied theater arts and education at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with BA and MAT degrees. He grew up in Chester at a time when the sun-bleached skeleton of the Cyclone bordered his school’s ball field and remembers well the many tales of Rock Springs Park.

A recent article in the East Liverpool Review can be seen at this website.