A trip down Memory Lane

Over the past month or so I have had some e-mail conversations with a resident of the Woodlands. Her name is Constance Watters Miles who became a Texan about 10 years ago when her husband got transferred from Pennsylvania to The Woodlands.
I became interested in Constance a couple of months ago when I picked up a fine tourist magazine that had a splendid article she had written on Rock Springs Park, a former amusement park. The park was located many hundred’s of miles north of The Woodlands at the spot where Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia join together some 100 or so air miles from the Canadian border.
Although I am certain I am a few decades older than Constance her article took me back to the days of my youth. She talked of taking an annual excursion train to Rock Springs Park from her hometown of Oakdale, Pa. In addition to Oakdale the train traveled through other “internationally” known towns such as MacDonald, Midway, Noblestown and Sturgeon, Pa. heading for “a day at the park.” Oakdale was surely the largest with about 1,400 residents.
She quoted the Oakdale newspaper of that day as saying “250 Oakdale Citizens Attend. All Business Houses Closed for the Occasion.” The railroad delivered hundreds upon hundreds of daylong visitors to the park from surrounding areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Ah, the days of my youth. I can well remember our special day in the 40s and early 50s when the Pennsylvania RR excursion hit the northern panhandle of West Virginia and we traveled north to Rock Springs. Of course our train picked up kids and adults by the hundreds in other ‘internationally’ known towns such as Warwood, Short Creek, Power, Beech Bottom (my hometown) and other points north.
I have no idea how many people were on that train but there where hundreds as every passenger car was filled to the brim. Some stood over most of the 50 or less miles from the furthest towns to the park. I can well remember making the trip, say between age 10 and 16, and the enjoyment of a day at Rock Springs as well as the trip going and coming home. We were all “dead” upon arrival back home. But Constance’s newspaper headline was quite correct. These small towns closed down on this particular day. Anyone who was anyone was on that train.
I remember one year I was not and I lived hard that day. I must have been in my early teens and wanted a major league baseball. I made the request of my parents during the summer, as was the Rock Springs trip, and having limited funds Mom told me I had to make a choice—the trip to Rock Springs or the baseball. Man, what a decision!! Finally, I decided to get the baseball. My rational? The trip would last for one day, the baseball for the rest of the summer and beyond. I also suspected we would be taking a family trip later to Rock Springs so I would enjoy the park then.
I lived hard that day as all of my friends, and I do me ALL, got up early, took the train that passed by about 6:30 a. m. It was a dreadful day for me, but, I had my baseball for years later. I loved that baseball and made a sacrifice to get it.
Constance’s article points out that Rock Springs Park opened on Memorial Day 1897 and lasted until it closed on Labor Day 1970. It lost out to a new bridge access on U. S. Rt. 30 that connected Pittsburgh and Cleveland and points east and west. At its peak the park drew 15,000 to 20,000 daily during the summer months. Many big bands played there and she mentions Guy Lombardo, Stan Kenton and Harry James. I saw Guy Lombardo there on one visit and can remember a few others as well.
I left that area in 1954 and returned only as far north as Wheeling and Beech Bottom to visit my parents, extended family and friends. I never got back to Rock Springs or Chester. Thanks Constance for a wonderful trip down “Memory Lane.” I hope to meet her on one of our winter visits to Crosby and environs.
Constance has had a great career in the east and now in The Woodlands area. As I write this she is in Perth, Australia presenting a paper about her work with the deaf and blind.
Such are the people, places and things that have touched my life in my West Virginia home!
Don Springer is a writer for the Charleston, West Virginia newspapers, but he and his wife often visit in Crosby & Houston. He can be reached at touchlife@ worldnet.att.net