| The 76 acres now known
as Cascade Park was purchased by Colonel Levi Brinton in 1892 for
development as a picnic grove, Big Run Falls. After several failed
attempts at construction, the Colonel sold the land to the New
Castle Traction Company (Penn Power) in 1897. The New Castle
Traction Company designed the tract of land as a Luna Park, with
landscaping and rides. A contest was held to name the park.
Ten-year-old Edwina Norris won $10.00 for the name, ‘Cascade Park.’
Cascade Park was opened on May 29, 1897. The following year, the
Traction Co. added a theater, baseball park, a carousel, and the
largest dance pavilion in Pennsylvania. This was also when the
first roller coaster, a small thrill ride called The
Toboggan was installed.
Additions to the park continued into 1899. The Traction Co.
dammed Big Run, creating a lake and picnic grove. They also added a
zoo. In 1922, the carousel was replaced with one from Idora Park in
Youngstown, Ohio built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. Vendor
Billy Glenn replaced the zoo with a swimming pool in the 1920s. He
also added a bath house and fun house, and replaced The
Toboggan with a longer wooden roller coaster, this one taking
advantage of the natural steepness of the gorge, and aptly named
The Gorge. By 1925, the park boasted a midway with 17 rides
and a tourist camp that could accommodate 2,000 people. Penn Power
expanded the park to 183 acres.
The trolley lines brought thousands of people to Cascade Park.
Big Band musicians, such as Guy Lombardo, Paul Whiteman, Henry
Mancini, Vaughn Moore and Danny Thomas all performed at the dance
pavilion.
In 1934, Penn Power donated the park to the City of New Castle
in perpetuity for $1, to be forever used as a public recreation
area, only stipulating that no alcoholic beverages may be sold at
the park (forever!). Throughout the Depression and after attendance
gradually declined. The dam on Big Run cracked, draining the lake;
it was never repaired.
In the 1950s, Paul Vesco contracted with the city to operate the
park. He replaced The Gorge coaster with another that took
advantage of the steep topography, The Comet. Mr. Vesco had
designed The Comet himself; its construction was executed by
International Amusement Devices (IAD). The coaster reached a peak
height of 65 feet and the track was 2400 feet long, running up the
gorge and back down into the gullies. The coaster was barely
perceptible behind the tree cover.
Although attendance continued to decline, the park was kept
alive, hanging by a thread during the 1970s and early 80s by
company picnics sponsored by local manufacturing companies. After
the collapse of America’s manufacturing industries in the
mid-1980s, the park withered. A tree fell across the tracks of
The Comet in 1982; it was torn down two years later. The
park reached its low point with the installation of a huge Go-Kart
track, obliterating portions of the old park.
Restoration began in the 1990s. The city pledged that all future
development would reflect the Victorian style of the early park.
The Go-Kart track was removed; the deteriorating amusement rides on
the Midway were removed, the ‘Floral Steps’ were repaired,
buildings improved, and a playground installed.
The park now provides fishing in Big Run, a number of walking
trails down the gorge, the city’s public swimming pool, picnic
pavilions shaded by trees along Big Run, and organized dances at
the restored dance pavilion. The city’s largest annual event,
Back to the ‘50s, is hosted in the park. |
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