00:07 - Eye writer and historian jennifer shopko joining you from newcastle pennsylvania

00:11 - i'm here today at one of the oldest trolley parks in pennsylvania

00:15 - cascade park

00:17 - which has delighted picnickers and park goers since the late nineteenth century.

00:22 - From sunday school outings and family reunions to

00:25 - old timers picnics and back to the fifties weekends

00:28 - people have flocked to this lawrence county landmark

00:31 - along big run

00:32 - since the eighteen eighties

00:34 - whether to enjoy the picturesque big run falls or to seek amusement park thrills.

00:41 - In eighteen andy one

00:43 - colonel levi c brinton

00:44 - a civil war veteran

00:46 - purchase sixty five acres

00:48 - of the big run falls property in shenandoah township

00:51 - and began developing the grounds into a summer resort.

00:55 - Also founding an electric streetcar company he

00:57 - hoped would bring folks from downtown new cas zl

01:00 - to brinton park.

01:02 - The recreation destination offered dancing

01:05 - picnicking

01:06 - and a steam powered merry go round.

01:14 - Following world war one

01:15 - cascade park saw a golden age of expansion through the nineteen twenties

01:20 - with help from long time popcorn and peanut concessionaire william

01:24 - billy glenn

01:25 - who launched several major attractions including a large concrete swimming pool

01:30 - a fun house

01:31 - and the gorge ride.

01:33 - Added in nineteen twenty two

01:35 - billy glenn score dried was a john miller and

01:37 - harry baker designed wooden wall a coaster

01:40 - built within the big run ravine

01:42 - that took advantage of the park's natural topography.

02:02 - Though

02:07 - the amusement park proper continued on for nearly another half century

02:11 - reinvigorated by the vesco family

02:14 - from the nineteen fifties through the early nineteen eighties

02:17 - cascade parks attractions were managed by paul vesco

02:21 - best known for his name nineteen fifty four edition

02:23 - of the legendary comet roller coaster to the park

02:27 - which replaced the earlier gorge ride and likewise

02:30 - dived in and out of the densely forested big run ravine.

02:35 - The national amusement device company coasters distinctive layout

02:39 - included an immediate drop into the gorge

02:41 - right out of the gate

02:43 - a lift hill late in the ride

02:45 - and the coasters final drop its tallest and steepest

02:48 - that gave riders one final rush before wasting back to the station

02:53 - hidden among the trees in the summer

02:55 - today we can spot what's left of the comet as the seasons change.

03:00 - You can actually get up close and personal with some of the surviving remnants of the

03:04 - nineteen fifties era comic coaster at cascade park

03:07 - like this moss covered footer.

03:12 - In eighty ninety seven the new castle traction company acquired the land

03:16 - and began revamping

03:18 - britain's picnic grounds into a full fledged amusement park

03:21 - reached by the trolley line which you can see behind me

03:25 - newcastle traction engaged landscape architect and civil engineer

03:29 - frank blaze dell to create the new cascade park

03:32 - as the boston massachusetts native

03:34 - had designed several other midwest and east coast trolley parks in the united states.

03:41 - Cascade park thrived during the golden age of trolley parks in western pennsylvania

03:45 - when during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries dozens of picnic groves

03:50 - and amusement parks sprung up along electric streetcar lines

03:53 - as destinations designed to boost the company's passenger business on weekends.

03:58 - Folks arriving by trolleys at cas skate park's

04:01 - main entrance at the lower section of the park

04:04 - were greeted by a bevy of new attractions interspersed throughout the hilly terrain.

04:09 - The electricity used for the streetcar line

04:12 - was also used to power these attractions and

04:14 - illuminate buildings throughout the park.

04:18 - These included a bandstand

04:19 - a tintype gallery

04:21 - a dining hall with kitchen

04:22 - and outdoor summer theatre

04:24 - a baseball filled with grandstand

04:27 - and a fifteen acre man-made lake for boating swimming and winter ice skating.

04:32 - Among belies dell's improvements he notably

04:34 - incorporated twig architecture into several pavilions

04:38 - shelters and foot bridges that spanned big run and it's cascades

04:42 - which wound through the park

04:44 - this rustic style reminiscent of the great camps in the adirondack mountains

04:48 - used to unscripted and intertwined twigs

04:51 - branches and logs

04:52 - while no examples of twig architecture exist today at cascade park

04:56 - it's diverse foliage includes witness trees that date back to playa del work.

05:07 - Skateparks earliest mechanical rides included a new

05:10 - electric menagerie carousel added and eighteen ninety seven

05:14 - and the park's first rollercoaster added in nineteen one three

05:18 - this device was a figure eight side friction toboggan slide

05:21 - built by the ingersoll canoe structure company of pittsburgh.

05:30 - The stationery carousel added an eighteen

05:32 - ninety seven was replaced in nineteen twenty two

05:35 - with a denzel company carousel

05:37 - brought for my door park in youngstown ohio it was protected by a new don't pavilion

05:43 - built by the philadelphia toboggan company

05:45 - that you can see behind me.

05:51 - Other classic amusement rides that appeared at cascade park over it's history

05:55 - included a caterpillar

05:56 - a tumble bug

05:58 - dodge and bumper cars

05:59 - an old mill

06:00 - a miniature railroad

06:02 - a kitty land section

06:03 - and yet another merry go round

06:05 - this one an aluminum carousel from the allen her herschel

06:08 - company that was located in the pavilion behind me.

06:13 - Still standing today is the massive dance hall

06:16 - crowning the hill above the big run ravine

06:19 - allegedly the largest in pennsylvania at the turn of the century.

06:25 - As the rainbow terrace

06:26 - this venue hosted live orchestras

06:29 - big bands and swing dances over the succeeding decades

06:32 - and you can still rent it today

06:35 - and as.

06:59 - The great depression hit amusement parks and transit companies hard.

07:03 - In nineteen thirty four the pennsylvania power company

07:06 - a successor to newcastle traction donated cascade park

07:10 - to the city of newcastle in exchange for one dollar

07:13 - with the agreement the municipality d would

07:16 - continue to operate it for recreation purposes.

07:20 - Paul vesco and the city of newcastle continually battled over financial debts

07:25 - insurance and park maintenance

07:28 - over time cascade park's attendance declined it's condition deteriorated

07:33 - and perhaps the literal straw that broke the coasters track

07:37 - was a tree that fell and damaged the comet in nineteen eighty two

07:41 - cascade park never operated again as an amusement park after that season.

07:48 - While cascade park is no longer a traditional amusement park

07:52 - there remain quite a few vestiges from this halcyon days

07:55 - including the nineteen twenty two carousel pavilion.

08:01 - Remnants of the

08:02 - nineteen fifties comet roller coaster.

08:10 - And the victorian era dance hall

08:13 - and you can still enjoy refreshing summertime treat

08:16 - from nina's italian ice

08:17 - housed in the park's last surviving concession stand.

08:22 - Today the more than seventy acre city park is actively used for community gatherings

08:27 - and outdoor recreation in much of the same spirit

08:30 - as the original picnic grove and trolley park

08:33 - established around big run falls in the late nineteenth century.

08:37 - Thank you for joining us today on this tour of cascade park

08:41 - and.