Idlewild Park Named #1 Kids Park

(Image courtesy of Richard Bowker)

For those who miss Rock Springs Park, the closest thing we have today is Idlewild Park in Ligonier, PA. Many people from Southwestern Pennsylvania who see pictures of Rock Springs Park in my book, often comment how much the buildings, like the ones pictured above, remind them of Idlewild. Both parks were owned and operated by C.C. Macdonald at one time. Proudly, Rock Springs' sisiter park was recently awarded the title of best children's amusement park in the world. Read more here.

Rock Springs Park Book Sent for Second Printing

Two bits of good news this week. I was told by my publisher that Images of America: Rock Springs Park is being sent for reprinting and a typo in the first print run would now be corrected.

Arcadia prints 1,200 copies in the first print run of its Images of America books, hoping to sell them all in a calendar year. Rock Springs Park sold out in just three months and is going into a second printing. By “sold out,” I mean the company has no more books in stock, but books are still available in stores and online. It is also possible that books could be returned, if not sold. But still, I am very excited about this news. I knew there was a fan base for the park out there, I had no idea how many people would be interested in it. This news exceeds my wildest expectations.

If you read my article “Heartsick About a Typo,” then you will understand how happy I was to hear that the typo I discovered after the book came out, will now be corrected in the second printing. It was a small thing that was a big deal to me. I wonder if owning a first run edition, with the typo, will make it more valuable to collectors one day. I reread my author guidelines, about the proofreading process, and it recommended not making major changes to the text during the final proofread. That’s where I goofed up. I made a substantial amount of additions and last minute corrections and that is what led to the typo. I was heartsick when I saw it, but now I am relieved that it will be corrected.

Speaking of fans: Rock Springs’ Facebook page, started by Kassy Hand, is now approaching the 1,000 friends mark. Many visitors to and former employees of the park have left stories, comments, and pictures. You have to join Facebook to see it, but it is well worth it if you love the park. Check it out.

Whole Town Excursions to Rock Springs Park Continued into the 1930's.

MONACA ENJOYS HOLIDAY TODAY

From the Beaver Daily Times, Beaver, PA, July 7, 1930

Monaca is enjoying a holiday today. The occasion is the annual outing, under the auspices of the Monaca Board of Trade. A boat ride to Rock Springs Park on the Steamer Greater Pittsburgh and a picnic in the park at which an interesting program of sports will be presented and awards made, will be feature events of the outing.

Store and business houses in Monaca are closed and business is practically at a standstill in the South Side town. The outing being a community affair by invitation of the Monaca Board of Trade. Many people from all parts of the county joined the Monaca-ites at the Monaca wharf and joined in the outing.

The boat left the landing at the pump station about 11 o’clock. It was estimated there were between ten or twelve hundred people aboard, including men, women and children, all set for a jolly good time. The number at the park will also be greatly increased by the Beaver valley people who will motor to the resort or go by street car. The boat will leave the park on the return trip at 9 o’clock this evening.

The Many Faces of Rock Springs Park

I came across many pictures, such as this one, while researching Rock Springs Park. While they are beautiful photos of the many faces of Rock Springs, I chose not to use them in my book, as I was working with a limited number of images and the main goal was to tell the history of the park in a guided tour-type fashion. I wanted the reader to be able to see elements of the park such as the buildings, rides, and attractions in a majority of the pictures. This photograph, taken by Clarence O. Durbin around 1969, is of Betsy Urie. Although, Betsy's picture and others were not used in the book, I was able to showcase them in a musical Power Point slide show, which I share at book talks. Many people have said it made them cry, even some who didn't know the people or even the park, itself. The slide show is shown to Rusty Springfield;s hit, "I Only Want to Be With You."

Remember it?

Rock Springs Park is now on Wikipedia

Even before I had any thought of doing a picture-history book on Rock Springs Park, I would occasionally Google its name to see if there was any interesting news or pictures of the park on-line. It occurred to me a couple of years ago that Rock Springs should have a Wikipedia site, especially when I discovered that Chester, West Virginia had one. I thought about creating a page for the park and linking it to Chester’s, but I wasn’t sure how to do this and therefore never fully committed to the idea. I still enjoy Googling the park and discovered last month that someone had created a Wikipedia page. As I read through the article I began to realize that it was organized a lot like my book, even covering the same history I highlighted, with very few exceptions. Then I scrolled to the bottom and saw this.

I like being a referenced source. It somehow helps to further legitimize the work. So, thanks “Comic Book Runner.”

Mystery Woman at Rock Springs Park Identified

Someone once said, after listening to me talk about the research process involved in writing Images of America: Rock Springs Park, that it sounded a lot like “detective work.” James Rockford or Joe Hardy I am not, but it’s true there have been times when digging up information on the park felt a bit like solving a mystery or cracking a case.


One mystery that I’ve been wrestling with for nearly a year now was the identity of the woman pictured above. Her name is Beverly (Bev) Springer. I first saw her in the photograph below sent to me by Tish Hand last summer. Tish identified herself (left) and her son, Robert C. Hand (center), but wasn’t completely sure about Beverly’s name, thinking at that time that it could be “Ginny.” I planned to use the image in the chapter covering the Hand years, and hoped that someone would be able to identify the “mystery woman.”

Last fall, I gave a slide show presentation to residents of Fox's Nursing Home in Chester, West Virginia. I was hoping someone might recognize Beverly and identify her. Among the 20-30 attendees, no one knew her name.



Then, a month later in December 2009, I was told about a book of photo negatives that once belonged to park photographer Clarence O. Durbin. The negatives had not been developed in 40 years, but Clarence had carefully labeled each proof and included a negative for each one in a tiny, hand-folded paper envelope. He then, meticulously labeled each picture with a date and description of who or what was in the shot. Dozens of visitors and former park employees were named, including an old school friend of mine, but not Bev. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find out who she was. I realized after developing as many of the photographs as I could, that it must have been Clarence who took the picture of Tish, Robert , and Bev 42 years earlier.


My final attempt to have Bev identified occurred at the Chester book signing and author talk. I created a musical slide show displaying many of the faces of Rock Springs Park to the tune of Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want to Be With You.” I chose to use the picture of Tish, Robbie, and Bev as the final slide in the montage and mentioned, as a way of introduction, for everyone to look closely at all the faces as they flashed by and to let me know if they recognized anyone. A couple of people saw relatives, but no one knew Bev.


Yesterday, Kassy Hand posted the picture of her mother, brother, and the mystery woman on her Rock Springs Park Facebook page. Within an hour, maybe less, Kassy was talking to Beverly’s daughter and with a quick check it was comfirmed that it was Bev in the photograh. The mystery had been solved.


Beverly Springer passed away recently and, according to messages left on her own Facebook page, was much loved by all who knew her. I only wish I had a chance to talk to Bev, as I’m sure she would have been “tickled” by my “mystery woman” quest.

Beverly Springer seated on the stone fountain which bubbled between the Merry-go-round and Virginia Gardens in 1970. (All images courtesy of Rich Brookes)

A Guided Tour of Rock Springs Park

Although I could show you around the eastern end of Chester and point out a few things which still remain from the Rock Springs Park era, like owner C.A. Smith’s house on the terraced hillside above Pyramus Street, or the rustic log house, once the family home of Bob and Virginia Hand and their two sons, or even the spring itself which continues to flow unceremoniously into a drainage ditch above Chester’s iconic World’s Largest Teapot, it would be impossible, none-the-less, to tour the old Victorian park or its beautifully landscaped grounds in any meaningful way, as it was completely erased in 1974 to make way for an onramp and cloverleaf exchange to the Jennings Randolph Bridge.

That is why I chose to organize my book, Images of America: Rock Springs Park, as not only a historical tour, but also a virtual guided one. In the book we meet at the entrance gate (pictured above) and together walk the shaded paths of the lower picnic area, where I point out the Old Mill Ride and its tragic history. Then we stop to watch an afternoon matinee at the Summer Theater, followed by a quick dip the huge swimming pool. Once calmed by the serene setting of the spring lake lagoon and the log bridge along Lover’s Lane, we take one last cool drink from the ancient rock spring and climb the steep steps nearby to visit the noise and excitement of the upper park. There, we make our way along a busy midway, where the screams of thrill-seekers rounding the final turn on the Cyclone and the sweet smell of cotton candy, buttery popcorn, and the burning flash of electric sparks coming from the Dodgem car pavilion, excite the senses and force us to hand over five dollars for a strip of ride tickets at the ticket booth.

Buy a copy of Images of America: Rock Springs Park and take a stroll down memory lane.

Here’s want others have said:

“Great book. I literally absorbed it in two evenings before bedtime. You did a great job on the research and will presented text along with the imagery. And thanks for sharing your personal feelings on the excitement, and thrill and deep nostalgia for Rock Springs Park.” ~Will

“I found the book very interesting, and well done. The natural beauty of the area and the landscaping of the park must have been quite a sight in the early 1900s. I liked how the book was organized, showing distinct eras of the park, and how it changed over the years. I love history and had a lot of fun reading this book. Thanks for writing it Joe!” ~Sam

“I had read from my hometown's online newspaper that the author had been in town to sign books. I wanted to purchase a copy because I grew up around that the time the park was well visited. The stories where very interesting; I really enjoyed the photos. ~John

“We all thank Joe for his time to write this book, this is how things stay alive for our kids, who cannot believe what all Chester had. Thanks Joe, you made a lot of people happy. I rode the rollercoaster, must say never road another. Lol.” ~Mary

“I can't lay the book down either. Joe did a great job documenting the history of the park.” ~Kassy