A BRIEF DESCRIPTION and HISTORY OF ROCK POINT PARK Part 1 |
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Rock Point Park was a well-known summer resort and picnic ground, primarily from the 1880s through 1911. It was owned by a division of the Pennsylvania Railroad which brought many thousands of visitors to the park on special excursion trains. The area was named Rock Point because of the large rock which juts out from a plateau 100 feet above the triangle formed by the junction of Connoquenessing Creek and the Beaver River. Most available material is from 1905-1911 when the Rock Point Amusement Co. operated the park and this period will be covered in detail. |
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Chronology--1836 to 1905 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1836 Moses Matheny built a stone hotel/tavern along the Erie-Pittsburgh Canal at the mouth of the Connoquenessing. 1861 Rock Point post office established. 1871 Canal abandoned and Matheny's tavern closed. 1877 "The vicinity known as "Rocky Point" is now used for for picnic and pleasure parties." 1885 Pennsylvania Railroad bought the Rock Point grounds, utilized the tavern as a depot and began development of the park 1890 Major period of excursions began. 1892 Ellwood City founded, Rock Point post office closed. 1905 Rock Point Amusement Company leased the park, made improvments and the short period of frequent events and large numbers of visitors soon began. |
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Advertisement in the Ellwood Citizen June 27, 1902 |
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Chris Alles standing at rental boat landing about 1910 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The rock that gave Rock Point its name. The Beaver River is in the background. Photo about 1938 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sources: Ellwood Citizen -various issues Ellwood City Historical Association (1942) A History of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. Ellwood City, Pa. Everts, L. H., 1877 The History of Lawrence County. Philadelphia, Pa. New Castle (Pa.) News 2006, Jan. 24 Fires, New Parks Doomed Rock Point Park |
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