Rock Springs Park is a defunct amusement park once located in Chester, West Virginia, Hancock County. The park officially began operation in 1897, and closed in 1970 after the death of its final owner, Robert Hand. After four years of disuse, the land was bought by the state of West Virginia for the rerouting of U.S. Route 30 and the construction of the Jennings Randolph Bridge over the Ohio River.
History
Pre-opening: Up to 1896
The area that would become Rock Springs Park had been attracting people as early as 4,000 years ago. The Archaic Indians once thought of the spot as a sacred hunting ground. Interest in the area came about again during the years of Colonial America, when George Washington visited the vicinity on two separate occasions. In July 1758, his journal states that he was on Babb's Island, just across from the site on the Ohio River. Later, in October 1770, he reportedly camped near the park entrance and drank from the mineral waters of Rock Springs.
The park itself marks its earliest beginnings in 1857, when Rock Springs Grove (as it was known at the time) was donated by the Marks Farm for church picnics. Wharfmaster Patsy Kernan then leased the property and arranged for his ferryboat, the Ollie Neville, to carry picnickers from East Liverpool, Ohio across the Ohio River to the grove. Then, the park merely consisted of hiking trails, picnic pavilions, and a small dancing platform. As time went on, a lunchroom, baseball diamond, roller rink, and merry-go-round were added. Kernan ended his management in 1893 and was followed by L. J. McGhie, who changed little with the park.
In 1890, East Liverpool attorney James "J. E." McDonald bought of the A. E. Marks Estate for $170,000 with plans of expanding the hilly pottery town of East Liverpool to the flat headlands of the "Southside." Eleven of those acres were Rock Springs Grove. In 1893, McDonald announced plans to erect a new bridge over the Ohio River, open up a streetcar line, and turn Rock Springs into a full-blown amusement park. However, it took three years to obtain enough investors for the $250,000 project because of the financial panic of 1893. By the time construction was underway in 1896, there were less than a dozen homes along the unpaved Carolina Avenue in the community that would become Chester, West Virginia. Rock Springs Park officially opened in 1897.
Under J. E. McDonald: 1897-1899
Rock Springs Park officially opened on May 26, 1897, when the first trolley of the East Liverpool Street Railway Company crossed the new Chester Bridge and traveled to the park. New structures included a main pavilion, a midway, a new merry-go-round, and bathhouses.
Under C. A. Smith: 1900-1925
Charles "C. A." Smith's Steubenville, East Liverpool, and Beaver Valley Traction Company purchased Rock Springs Park in 1900. Under him, the park grew to include another new merry-go-round, the Casino dance hall, an outdoor amphitheatre, the Old Mill, the World's Greatest Scenic Railway (an early roller coaster), grandstands for the baseball field, boating and bathhouse facilities, a swimming pool, and a three and a half acre lake. This great expansion brought great success.
C. A. Smith also made it possible for new ways to get to Rock Springs. The Kenilworth line was extended into Chester and train and boat excursions made it possible for people from Wheeling, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to attend the park.
However, it wasn't all prosperity. In the years of 1914, 1915, and 1917, fires destroyed the Casino, the Old Mill, and structures near the lower gate entrance, respectively. A third dance hall opened in 1918, but this didn't help the ongoing decline in business. Smith left as park owner after the 1925 season.
Under C. C. and Grace Macdonald: 1926-1934
Success at Rock Springs Park returned under the ownership of Charles Clinton "C. C." and Grace Macdonald. Among their notable additions were a Dentzel carousel (1927) and the Cyclone roller coaster (1928). They also erected a log cabin in 1927 that served as their home.
C. C. Macdonald, along with Richard B. Mellon, bought Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Macdonald moved him and is family there, but spent the next four years traveling between Idlewild and Rock Springs. Finally, in 1934, the Macdonalds turned over ownership of Rock Springs to their daughter and son-in-law.