Luna Park Lake (Roxbury Park)

Luna Park

Luna Park (Roxbury Park)

Roxbury Face Lift

Roxbury Park

Luna Park

Unknown couple posing for the camera at Luna Park - now the site of Roxbury Park.

When Johnstown Went "Up In The Air"

At the turn of the last century - Johnstowners were ready, willing and able to try almost anything. One of our early businessmen tried building an automobile. It worked but because of a lack of engineering skill the idea of this city becoming an auto industry town was forgotten. Another time a group of men built an airplane. They had to remove the roof of the building in order to get it out. It actually flew a short distance when tested on a field in Westmont, but like the attempt to build autos, the idea was dropped.

No one could say these pioneers were afraid to invest their money and time in an effort to develop something new that could be built here. Some things did develop into a paying industry, such as steel mills, brick making, radiator works...etc.

Johnstown once had a wall paper manufacturing plant, an enamelware plant, a large woolen mill, a large flour mill, a paint factory, a chair factory and a tire plant - and their products were sold over a wide area. One of America's leading ice cream makers got his start here. Later his ice cream was sold in many parts of the east, until the company was bought out by a larger firm.

As the above photo shows, we once had a group of men who got into the business of building a large lighter-than-air ship. They were brave men because they had no idea in the world how to control it once it got into the air, but they took the chance. Without a motor it couldn't be steered against cross winds but that didn't stop them from believing in their dream.

This photo shows such an air ship being tested at old Luna Park (now Roxbury Park). There wasn't even an enclosed catwalk on it; simply a few wooden rails to hold on to. The barns on the left were part of the racing stables at the park. To the left of the barns were the race track and the lake. In the background can be seen the first houses built on Hammer Avenue near Franklin Street. At the time this photo was taken around 1911 the park extended far to the right where houses are now located. As the lake dried-up due to being drained when an over-load of dynamite was used in a coal mine underneath the lake, the race track and other amusement were closed up and the lake filled in - now replaced with the playing fields and tennis courts.

How many of us today would be willing to take a chance on a ride - high in the sky on such a contraption as this old air ship built be local men who were dreamers and not afraid to take a chance on doing something they loved in the city they once called home. 

May the new year - 2015 bring out the dreamer in you my dear readers...get out of your comfort zone (which I know is not an easy thing to do) - go on an adventure (whether it's just down the road or half a world away) - do something you have always wanted to do - don't be afraid of what others may think (because they are going to think it anyway - no matter what you do - so the heck with them!). Just remember the older you get, the better you get. Unless you're a banana.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

 Mother Teresa

Band Shell Roof

Fixing the roof of the old Roxbury Bandshell in 1975

Roxbury Pavilion - 1974

One of the old pavilions at Roxbury right before they tore it down.

5 Man Football

Something that never caught on - 5 Man Football at Roxbury Park.

Luna Lake

VJ Repeat - In case you live in Roxbury and was wondering why it's always so wet - this is a nice shot of what was once Luna Lake - part of Luna Park where Roxbury Park now is. 

Step Right Up Folks

VJ Repeat - Roxbury Park - Circus Day. Click on the picture to enlarge.

FDR at Roxbury Park

FDR at Roxbury

Roxbury - 1974

Putting in the tennis courts at Roxbury - 1974

Hoop Time

Boys shooting some hoops at Roxbury - 1973

Paving at Roxbury

Robert Eisenhuth working on the road at Roxbury Park in 1973.

Luna Park

School Aides at Luna Park

Simply because I like them - I thought I'd dig repeat some of my favorites.
School Aides at Luna Park (Roxbury Park).  

 

The Old Dale Loop - 1904

 

The Old Dale Loop - 1904. The summer streetcar sits at the old turnaround on Bedford Street - where it now connects to the bypass. The "Fair Next Week" was advertising the Fair to be held at Luna Park (Roxbury).

Luna Park Boat Dock

 

Another rare shot of Luna Park (Roxbury) - this time is from the other side of the park - you are looking at the boat dock.

History of Luna Park - Part 2

Today I continue my look into the history of Luna Park  - for more on Part 1 - CLICK HERE.

Luna Park had a dance hall and attached to this was a cafe where local caterers would serve meals. Light refreshments were also sold throughout the park.

Johnstowners young and old enjoyed thrilling rides on the $15,000 roller coaster, there was also a laughing gallery, up-side-down house, ferris wheel, miniature railway, shooting gallery, baby racks, photography gallery, picture machines and many other interesting features.

This is NOT our Luna Park - but Luna Park - Coney Island - New York - 1905

Nights at the park were even more exciting when the 2,500 arc and incandescent lights scattered around the park would light up the night sky. The illumination of the park entrance was known as an eye catcher - 300 lights outlining the features of the gate.

Entrance to the park was usually free, except when some church or organization made arrangements for a special day.

The actual Boardwalk at Roxbury
A 21 foot steam launch was added to the park and was one of the biggest hits on the grounds. An 800 foot boardwalk from the entrance to the dancing pavilion was completed. This walk was 12 feet wide with the lake situated inside inside the track and the track in sight to afford folks all the fun of the Atlantic City promenade.

The girls who worked at the park were forbidden to chew gum or eat goo-goo eyes. Management warned that chances for employment were nil if girls were known to indulge in these unattractive and unbusiness like pastimes.
Luna Park at one time even had a zoo. The first motion pictures in Johnstown were shown at the park with a five cent admission.
A pair of white diving horses also called the park home. One horse was placed at one end of the lake and the other would walk up a ramp several feet above the water and dive into the lake. Hot air balloons were also a special draw for the folks around town.

During the winter - ice skating was very popular. It was in the winter of 1915 that the skating craze swept the country, including Johnstown. While the local rivers offered good skating, Luna Park Lake proved the perfect spot and always drew the largest crowds. The demand for skating was so high that they kept the park open every afternoon and evening.

The park management's policy of bringing the latest attractions to Johnstown once resulted in an airplane exhibition and passenger flights. A ride over Johnstown in a Curtiss plane was a costly $15 - around $166 in today's dollars. 

Isiah Sipe in 1920 arranged for the four-day appearance with an officer from the then known - United States Aviation Corps to land and take off from the park and give exhibitions and passenger flights. 

When neither the baseball field nor the race track was found suitable for landing with danger, Mr. Sipe arranged to use the H.E. Berkley farm as a landing field. 

Automobile and motorcycle racing were also popular. In September, 1919 one of the outstanding oldtime racers appeared - Gaston Chevrolet in a match against Omar Toft the Pacific Coast champion. 

Actual shot of the Roxbury parking lot

Luna Park was purchased buy the city in 1921, the culmination of years of negotiations. The deal included the purchase of all the land together with all the permanent buildings and mineral rights. 

At the time of the purchase, the city intimated that the operation of the park would continue under the same management. A comprehensive plan for the park's improvement and development also was promised. 

But a fire hit the park on July 29, 1921, five months after it's purchase by the city - a major step in its eventual decline as an amusement center. Between $25,000 to $30,000 was the estimated damage amounts - that's $372,888 in totals dollars. It's believed that the fire started in the grandstand area before moving on to the roller skating rink, bandstand and roller coaster. 

The fire came just as the park was getting ready for a firemen's convention. Just prior to the fire - Capt. Harry Hoover of Truck Company No. 1 and George Nenstiel, convention committeemen, inspected the new gas pipes installed at the park and found everything in order. The firemen had scarcely returned to the engine house when the first alarm was turned in. 

No one was in the grandstand at the time and only about 10 people were in the skating rink when flames broke out.

Despite the fire, the park carried out its schedule of races and carnivals during the remainder of the season. An investigation was made - but an exact cause was never found. 

It was in 1922 that the city drained the old lake for safety reasons and at the same time the horticultural hall was torn down. Most of the fence surrounding the park was also taken down.

Late in 1922, Charles Leavitt of New York presented to city council an elaborate plan for redeveloping Roxbury Park. All the amusements and race track were overlooked in the new plans.

It was instead to be made into a recreation center which would include two playhouses, dancing pavilion, three swimming pools, two bath houses, basketball court, two handball courts, bowling green, clubhouse, eight tennis courts along with two other pavilions for the athletic fields.

The athletic field was to provide seating for about 5,000, have a quarter-mile running track and be adaptable for both football and baseball.

Ice skating was to be conducted on the field in the winter time. 

But, as you are well aware - the redevelopment plan was never fulfilled. Bases for the tennis courts were installed but not completed until 1949. Clay tennis courts did a booming business at the park during the 1930's, but went into decline right before the war. The courts were flooded several winters to provide ice skating. 

But all in all - attempts to make the park what it once was proved just too time-consuming and more importantly, just too expensive. After reading this brief history of Luna Park - I hope you are like me and take away a sense of what we truly lost - the wonder of it all - though lost in time - not lost in our imaginations.... 

To wrap this history up - I have included two short films that show Luna Park - Coney Island, New York in 1903 and 1905. Though our park was much smaller - these two films can help give you a better feel of some good old-fashioned fun.....

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History of Luna Park - Part 1

In the past I have posted many one of a kind shots of the old Luna Park in Roxbury. Like the picture postcard above. Afterwards, I always get a lot of questions from readers as to the history of former Johnstown landmark - amazed that such a thing once existed there - especially the bit about the lake. So that you don't get too confused - because I will be covering a lot history. It was first called Roxbury until 1905 when the name was changed to Luna before going back to Roxbury in the 1920's.

Roxbury Park, now known mainly as a place to play ball or a game of tennis was once ranked as one of the best recreation and entertainment centers in the Eastern United States for the twenty years it was Luna Park.

Little remains of the features that made this park a magnet for entertainment seeking Johnstowners. Known as Luna Park starting in 1905, this wonderland of fun and adventure reigned supreme for decades.

In the years since - other parks sprang up before and after Luna Park, but none has shone itself to be it's equal. Attempts to redevelop the big Roxbury tract were made but never got much past the drawing board.

Ownership of the land located near the famous Whiskey Springs can be traced back to the 1840's. The first owner of the land was Daniel Barnes - who later sold it to Isaac Barnhart.

The year 1893 saw the beginnings of what would become Roxbury Park - later Luna. Between November 22 and November 27 the Tri-County Agricultural & Driving Park Association bought the old Barnhart property along with six other tracts belong to: Frank and Mary Smith, Robert and Mary Barclay, Joseph and Ann Sharp, Harvey and Elizabeth Barclay, Otto and Sarah Melander along with the James Kaul family.

It was almost 10 years later, on September 5, 1903 that the Tri-County Association bondholders voted to authorize the park property at public auction. Judge O'Connor once had holdings in Roxbury Park but had disposed of them prior to his authorized to sell the site. Frank Cresswell represented $23,000 or 96 percent of the bonds at this time.

Cresswell bought the 30 acres of ground which later became Luna Park from Judge O'Conner on February 6, 1905 for $40,000. (According to the Inflation Calculator - what cost $40,000 in 1905 would cost $985,760.60 in 2011.)

Later on - the City of Johnstown bought Luna Park from Mary Cresswell, widow of Frank and Johnstown Trust Company on September 12, 1922 for $210,469.36. What cost $210,469.36 in 1922 would cost $2,791,946.97 in 2011. Lets not forget the .36 and 97 cents....

One of the most important dates in connection with Roxbury Park was May 30, 1896, when the first Johnstown Passenger Railway car ran to the Roxbury extension. The park is credited with prompting the installation of the double track trolley line that served the area until 1960.

For the first several years under the Tri-County Association, the park was operated as a resort with horse racing as the principal attraction.

Known then as Roxbury Park - it became the center of attraction throughout the state on September 7, 1896, when the Pennsylvania State Fair was held there. It proved so successful that it returned in 1897.

Another of the park's big attractions in the early 1900's was the Interstate Fair. Much like our current county fairs. Bands were often paraded through city streets en route to the park. Folks would fall in line behind the bands and walk to the park where the could enjoy horse racing and carnival attractions. 

Schools would close and businesses would shutdown so that everyone could enjoy a day at the park. The 1903 Fair had crowds of up to 25,000 and was typical of all the others.

This shows the actual park gate located near the old Roxbury Loop.

The formation of the Roxbury Park Amusement Association in 1905 started the transformation of the park into the recreational and amusement center that it was later known as. It was then that Roxbury Park became known as Luna Park, the latter name taken from an amusement park in Pittsburgh.

Included in the new resort grounds were 35 acres - a half-mile track for racing of all kinds, a baseball diamond, a lake of three acres for rowboats and launches, stables for 75 to 100 horses and a grove of 10 acres of shade trees which had several springs of water bubbling up for the refreshment of visitors.

The buildings consisted of a grandstand capable of seating 2,000 people, a theater holding 700 at which daily afternoon and evening performances were given, a boat house with 15 steel rowboats, the latest thing out and several electric launches. 

A $2,000 structure was built to house an $8,000 carousel and then there was the first whirligig ever seen in Johnstown, each seat having three animals abreast along with a fully staffed dining hall.