Beech Bend Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Location | Bowling Green, Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.beechbend.com |
| Owner | Dallas and Alfreda Jones |
| Opened | 1898 |
| Rides | Approx 40 total
|
Beech Bend Park is an amusement park, campground and automobile race track located in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, not far from the city of Bowling Green.
The park takes its name from a bend in Barren River, for of the stands of beech trees scattered throughout the area. The area was used for picnics as early as the 1880s. Charles Garvin purchased the park property in the early 1940s, adding amusements over the years. The first ride was a pony ride, followed by a roller skating rink, dance hall, bowling center, and swimming pool.
Shortly after World War II, Garvin added mechanical rides to Beech Bend Park, beginning with a Ferris wheel purchased from the Chicago World's Fair. Racing began about that same time with motorcycles. Auto racing began on a 3/8-mile (600 meter) oval dirt track; that same track, now paved, is still in use today. A drag strip was added in the 1960s.
The 1960s marked the park's heyday. Gate admission was ten cents, with promotions known as "County Days," spotlighting a county within the Bowling Green area each week. Carnival-type rides were abundant, with the famous Wild Mouse the most popular; midway games such as Skee Ball and Fascination were a hit with guests. The campground grew over the years, with more than 1,000 spaces advertised at its peak, billed at one time as the world's largest. (The campground was home to the original store of what is now Camping World, a large camping supply retailer founded by David Garvin, Charles Garvin's son.) A small zoo was also added.
In the 1970s, the park went into a state of decline, largely due to competition from theme parks such as Opryland USA in nearby Nashville, Tennessee. Garvin's health was also in steady decline. When he died in 1979, the park closed, though the racing facilities stayed open onder lease to a third-party operator. The park was purchased by an ownership group that included country music singer Ronnie Milsap, which operated it unsuccessfully in 1981 and 1982. The park closed again, with ownership reverting back to Garvin's heirs.
In 1984, Dallas and Alfreda Jones purchased the racetracks and began hosting national drag racing events under the sanction of the National Hot Rod Association. The racetracks did well, and three years later, the couple purchased the rest of the park, which had by then fallen back into nature. No work was done on the old park until the 1990s, when the Joneses began to clear out the park and renovate the campground. The pool was then reopened, and the owners gradually added amusement rides back to the park — much as Charles Garvin had done in the park's early years.
As of 2005, Beech Bend Park has more than 40 rides, 500 campground spaces with modern amenities, renovated racing facilities, a water park, and large picnic pavilions. The race tracks host numerous Corvette racing events (the park is only a few miles away from the General Motors factory that produces the sports car), plus the annual NHRA Hot Rod Reunion.
In 2006, the park added the Kentucky Rumbler wooden roller coaster.
[edit] Trivia
- Jim Varney's first commercial as character Ernest P. Worrell was for Beech Bend. Varney's character was advertising an appearance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in 1980.
