Sunday, November 6, 2011

Springs Park–Lancaster, SC: Where It’s At Today

With hours of research under my belt, I have yet to pint point the beginning of Springs Park. I came across a discussion board that mentioned an outdoor swimming pool and clubhouse for the mill employees in 1924. Yet another site states the park, operated by Springs Industries, opened in 1940s, then closed in late 1980s. I have read some unusual attractions in the original park included a steam propelled model railroad which was a feature of the Charleston Exposition in 1902, an Army pursuit plane, and a training plane. Another site states Springs Park expanded in 1948 to include a pavilion large enough over a thousand. More research indicated that by the summer of 1963 the park also included an Olympic swimming pool with a diving tower 10 meters above the water and an amphitheater capable of seating 5000 people. According to Denise Walker, the owner of a discussion board for the history of the park, the high rise diving board was the first of its kind in the southeast and one of two or three in the entire country, which was designed by a Charles M. Graves. Attractions also included a king-sized merry-go-round, a kid-sized Ferris wheel, boat and pony rides, swings, a bowling alley, an archery range, a skating rink, shuffleboard courts.
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Coming down the trail, and walking the short distance up the hill to the fence surrounding what is left of the pool, one has no trouble imaging the summers of long past. The remains of a shower house sit to the right of the pool, a gaping hole where a window once looked out to the length of it. Across the way, another building sits in ruins. What a site to see, the photos do no justice for the sheer size of the now defunct park!
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I came across a Facebook page dedicated to the park, and several of its members shared a few photos and childhood memories. One of the users even posted there were concerts at the park. She wrote, “I seem to remember Patsy Cline, with her red hair, in an orange chiffon dress with gold sequined high hills. My uncle Charlie Brooks worked for Springs so we would go down from Kannapolis to visit when they had the opening each year. This was back in the 60's. I have many memories of Springs Park.”
Having seen for my self what condition the park is in today, it pains me to think of why someone would let such a grand attraction sit in ruins like this.
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The high dive has long fallen, and the entire pool has various graffiti painted on the walls. The tiles are cracked and missing, the surrounding sidewalk is crumbling and at one point is actually caving in. I don’t condone trespassing, and if you even attempt to locate this park, be warned – it’s dangerous.
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My friend and I explored what remains of the park, going into the pool and walking down into where so much water once was. It always makes me feel strange to walk in places that you aren’t meant to, even if the water isn’t there today. 2011-12272011-1240
I found another site online that officially states the parks closing in 1990. A lady posted a newspaper clipping, along with this photo. She went on to write this photo was taken in June 1990, the last summer the pool was officially open. Everything else has closed by then, and the life guard in the photo told her it wouldn’t be long till the pool closed too. old park pic2While I loved the adventure this old park provided, I hate to see something like this park once was go under. It makes me wonder about the places I know today, and what sort of people will stumble upon them in 20 or 30 years only to find them in ruin. You don’t expect to see things on this big of a scale fall down so hard.

37 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. When I was a kid, we would go there in the Summer time. The park hosted the baseball award ceromony at the end of the season. All the teams would show up and then afterwards we had the run of the park.

    My Parents would take us there in the summertime. They were both employees of Springs.

    The diving board was pushed over by the police in the pursuit of someone who ran into the woods and climbed it. That's apparently how they got him down.

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    1. Not true. It was pushed over by bulldozer as a saftey concern.

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  3. Hi i'm from the UK and recently saw a youtube video about this place in it's current abandoned state. Thank you for sharing your info & photos of how it used to be back in the day, really interesting, thanks for bringing it back to life

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  4. Thanks! I'm glad people are still able to enjoy it, even in it's current state!

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  5. One of the biggest losses of Lancaster, SC due to the fact that Springs Mills, Inc. and Duke Energy did not care enough to save it for the county. They just shut it down and let it rot, just like our small town.

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    1. Did sping ows this place it bult for pepoe that for work the mill it open 1804 cloed 1982

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  6. I am 16 years old and was raised in Lancaster. I have been told stories about why it was shutdown. I heard from family to other people. It from business related or racial stuff. But the story I hear the most is a mix of both. At the time the park was mainly white.they would buy snacks/drinks and rides and sometimes donate money to improve the park.but when black people came they didn't buy snacks/food or do the rides. They only came for the pool which was free. The park lost money and had to shutdown attrctmeants 1 at a time or several at a time to stay open until the last most popular attractment was closed(which was the pool). Springs lost money and moved to make more money and remake what they had lost. I do not mean for this story to offend anyone. I am only retelling what I have been told.

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    1. I'm Black and from Lancaster, there was an admission Price for the Park, and it included the pool. We ALL paid to get in, Black and White. Most people brought picnic baskets or purchased food at the Park. The Park was never the same after Hurricane Hugo, and Springs shut down all operations in Lancaster. These are the things that caused the Park to close, it was not the fault of one certain group. Get your facts straight.

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  7. When I was a kid I went to summer camp near the park, and we'd swim in the pool every day. It was a rite of passage to jump off of the highest diving platform. Sad to see the place in ruins.

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  8. Springs Park was a big part of my life growing up. I have lots of pics from my youth at the park. I think with the opening of Carowinds it began the decline of Springs Park. The best I remember we had to buy tickets to ride the rides and swim. Before the new ool opened opening day festivities were held at the little amphitheater at the skating ring. They usually had country singers as entertainment.

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  9. Wow! Thanks for sharing your stories! I love learning the history of places like this. It's even better when I get first hand accounts! I wish I could re-visit this place and photograph it again. Now there are "Camera in use - no trespassing" signs posted everywhere!

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  10. It got shutdown because it was owned by Springs Industries, a textile manufacturer. The textile jobs moved overseas, thus Springs had to close plants and their mill towns suffered.

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  11. if you look at the board posted beside the dock at the lake, it says that carowinds took away a lot of business when it opened in 1973 and they had to close due to not making enough money. It closed in 1990.

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  12. if you look at the board posted beside the dock at the lake, it says that carowinds took away a lot of business when it opened in 1973 and they had to close due to not making enough money. It closed in 1990.

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  13. if you look at the board posted beside the dock at the lake, it says that carowinds took away a lot of business when it opened in 1973 and they had to close due to not making enough money. It closed in 1990.

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  14. It still bothers me to see people telling false comments about photos I took, and I was the one who talked to the Lifeguard, I know now how people react to Copywriter material's being copied or stolen..one guy even posted on a site, with My Pool Photo; Summer of 1970, as if he took the photo, I own the Negatives, I signed a Release so South Carolina ETV could use my photos in a Documentary..IT WASN'T A SHE, IT WAS ME...checking in further

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    1. I have no way to verify who took the original. I simply said a lady posted a newspaper clipping, along with this photo. I found it on a forum. To be clear, we are talking about the color photo of the high-rise diving board at the bottom. Thanks!

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    2. Using some of the knowledge I have acquired since first posting this blog, I did a reverse image search on google and this is all I came up with - http://www.panoramio.com/photo/44058905 - which is a comparison of the old site vs. current state by Daniel_K_Photography

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    3. lol I posted the "HERALD" Newspaper Article also, I took the Photos in 1989, the Pool closed in 1990, No problem, it`s kinda like Painting a Painting & someone says they did it, I have all the Negatives, another guy posted my photo and said, 'Late 1970" ROFL

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  16. I learned many years ago from the Springs company that the high dive was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

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    1. I was born in Great Falls.. Don't know when the "park" itself was shut dow, as I grew up and moved away... But I do know that it was "destroyed" when Hurricane Hugo ravaged the state.

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    2. The Diving Board was torn down in 1990,by Springs Mill, when the Park closed. Hugo was in 1989, it didn't damage the diving board

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  17. Just went to Springs park a week ago. And the diving board was cut down. You can see where it was cut at the base and then broke and fell into the pool when it got cut 3/4 of the way. You can tell by the way the town looks, that there were many reasons why it got shut down. My friend heard about the pool and we went.(we live in Charleston SC) after we found the pool and explored it. This past week I've been researching he most I can about it. I Google searched springs park images and read about everything that was around the pool. Plan on going back to explore more since I know more about the past of Springs park.

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  18. I grew up in Heath Springs.......and spent many days there as a child.......remember jumping off all three of the diving platforms and being terrified!!! Roller skating to Lou Christie's Lightning Strikesand other songs they played......and my first ever concert was Sketter Davis at the pool......yes, she sang The End Of The World!!!! The train and plane........snow cones...
    great memories...

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  19. I have old film footage from 1968 I think. I lived in Great Falls until 1969.

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  20. I remember attending my first summer camp at "Camp Springs" when I was about 7 years old in 1971. I can remember there were several wooden sleeping cottages, all with Indian tribe names, and a dining hall. It had to be near the park because I think we hiked there from the camp. I remember the little kiddie ferris wheel, the train and of course the larger than life swimming pool. Have always wondered through the years what happened to the place.

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  21. I'm a pool manager and would love to get in contact with owner of the property and maybe restore it. Please let me know if anyone has info.

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  22. It was a nice place my very first job in 1981 running the putt putt golf those where the good Ole days. Springs fed a lot of family everyone worked at springs and now it's all gone what a shame.

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  23. I delivered Pepsi cola cases there in the summer of 1989,The only thing that was in operation was the pool and a summer camp area south of the pool.That's the last year that the park was open.

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  24. The next place to fall is White Oak campground in mid to upstate South Carolina. They just announced they are closing it last week. Has a pool conference center and lake and it’s gone. Just like that.

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  25. William H. Closes, historic documents. Should be available in Winthrop College Library.

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