The "A Rocky Springs Saturday Night … Oh The Memories" Story

1969 photograph of the Lady Gay steamboat.

It was an ordinary day.  Reading some of the comments and looking at some of the photos on the Friends of Rocky Springs Facebook page.  Brought back many memories from the mid-late 1960's.  I posted a story a few years ago about making visits to Rocky Springs Park with  my friend, Jerry, who I worked with at the Acme Supermarket.  

The "Wild-Cat" Coaster at
Rocky Springs Park.

His grandfather ran the wooden roller coaster known as the "Wild-Cat" which had two drops of just about 90 degrees at the beginning of the ride.  We were held into the cars with leather belts that could be opened by the rider during the ride if they cared to do so.  Not quite sure how high the coaster was, but it was a scary sight.  We would leave work at 10:00 PM on a Friday evening and head to the park to try and catch a few rides on the coaster before it closed.  We were allowed to remain on the coaster, ride after ride, as long as there was empty cars for paying customers.  If the cars were filled we with sit with Jerry's grandfather and listen to his tales of Rocky Springs.  Rocky Springs was at one time just a park where you could go to picnic.  The 27-acre property was purchased by Michael Trissler, a local butcher, in 1855 and within five years he had built an inn and opened the grounds for picnicking.  In 1882 he sold the property to Samuel J. Demuth who ran a confectionery at 7 E. King Street in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania as well as an ice cream shoppe on South Queen Street.  

Location where the trolley from Lancaster entered the park.

Mr. Demuth began to spruce up the grounds with plantings and it became known as Demuth's Park.  After Demuth died in 1888, his family operated the park along with the Anderson family who ran a side-wheeled steamboat named the "Lady Gay" on the Conestoga, taking customers for river rides.  Then, in 1890 the Demuth estate leased the park to John B. Peoples who added benches, picnic tables, a fountain with goldfish and began adding amusement rides.  

An overhead view of the "Wild-Cat".

In the 1890's my church, St. James Episcopal, in downtown Lancaster had their yearly picnics in the park.  Refreshments could be purchased and a resident photographer made tintypes for those that could afford them.  In 1894 Peoples updated the bathing houses and put a beach of sand along the river.  In 1896 new tenants took over the park.  Mr. Herman Griffiths and Ms. Emma Wiener, both from the Philadelphia area began to lease the park.   At the end of 1899, shortly after the park became known as Rocky Springs, the Demuth heirs sold the property to Thomas Rees.  Mr. Griffiths remained the manager of the park and added two more steamboats, the Emma Belle and the Evelyn B., to carry passengers to the park.  He also added a   

The penny arcade building.

merry-go-round, dance pavilion, show pavilion and boat pavilion as well as the lighting in the park was changed from coal torches to electric lights.  1903 saw the addition of a trolley line from Lancaster city to the park.  In 1907 a roller-skating rink of white maple with a roof was built on the property by a construction company from Coney Island.  Eventually the figure 8 coaster was added to the park.  The coaster began it's run by heading through a wooden tunnel, just high enough to accommodate the passengers.  I can remember reading about several accidents in the tunnel from people standing and hitting their heads.  Many chose not to ride because of the safety of the coaster, but that didn't stop Jerry and myself from riding and riding the cat.  At times we did ride the whip or scooters.  My wife recalled heading to the park with her dad to roller-skate on Friday evenings, but this was a few years before I ever knew her so our paths never crossed at one of Lancaster's most exciting and fun places on the south side of the city.  Oh, the memories!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

Another view of the roller coaster

The Lady Gay passing under Witmer's Bridge along the Conestoga River.

A postcard of the Roller Rink where my wife and her dad enjoyed skating on Friday evenings.

One of my favorite photos showing one of the coater cars.

And now, take a trip back in time to the days when life was much simpler and a visit to the amusement park didn't break the bank.  Oh, how I miss my trips to Rocky Springs Park!!