Here's a picture of an old post card that brought back a flood of memories that I thought I would share with you. Back in my school days from grammar to high school I spent a lot of time at this place. Our friend "jws" told me of a web site http://www.clevelandmemory.org/ that has an East Liverpool section with a real treasure trove of historical pictures. Most of them are in and around the ELO area. Also in his post today Matt Stewart mentioned a new site called Point of the Beginning which has many of the same pictures and a few others that I didn't see on the Cleveland Memory pages. Just about all of the pictures are of old post cards. This picture was found on the Cleveland site.
Lake Marwin was opened sometime in the 1950s I think. It was owned and operated by the late Doc Irwin, an ELO dentist. It was named after Doc's wife Mary and they took the "win" from their last name. Located at the top of the hill off Shadyside Doc had them take a corner of the lake and built a huge swimming pool. The pool was nearly the size of a football field. It went from three feet deep at the shallow end to eight or ten feet deep at the other end. The shallow end gradually sloped down to five feet where there was always a rope across the pool to let patrons know there was a sharp drop off to the deeper end. Although the high dive isn't shown in this picture there was at one time both a high and low diving boards. In addition to the big pool there was a fairly good sized baby pool. I was one of the regulars at the pool in my grade school days and if I could bum a ride was usually there waiting for them to open the gate at 1 P.M. If Mom would let me I would be there until they closed at 9 P.M. but I usually had to be home in time for supper.
I don't know how many acres were involved but there was a lot of land inside the fence. There was one big pavilion with several picnic tables and on an adjacent side there were areas with individual picnic tables scattered about the hillside. There were two concession stands, one by the pool and another over by the main entrance. The hillside by the pool was reserved for people to lay out their blankets and beach towels. If you got bored with swimming, sunning and picnicking there was a miniature golf course on the grounds to keep you amused. They also rented row boats and paddle bikes if you wanted to cruise around the lake or go fishing.
In the white building you see in the upper right hand corner was a dance hall on the second floor where every Friday evening they would have a d.j. spinning records for a dance hop. Back when I was in high school that was the "in" place to be on Friday nights. You weren't with it if you didn't go to "The Lake" on Friday. I remember Stan Scott and ELO's Tom Edgell spinning records there in their best Dick Clark fashion. Kids would come from all over the tri-state. I think it cost a dollar to get in and they would stamp your hand if you had to go outside for a moment. There were rumors of a lot of hugging and kissing that went on in that parking lot.
Looking back on it the Friday night record hops were a hoot. Friday nights at "The Lake" usually meant going stag. If you had a steady Saturday was date night. Most of the guys stood around watching the ladies dance with their girl friends during the fast dances. Once in awhile they would slow it down and call a "lady's choice" were it was permissible for a girl to ask a guy to dance. This would go on until nearly closing time when all they played was slow numbers and the guys and gals would usually pair up to finish off the night. There were a lot of romances started there and a few that were terminated if you were caught dancing with the wrong partner.
I haven't been up that way for ages but I don't think there is much left of the place. That picture of the post card brought back a lot of memories. At one time Lake Marwin had something for just about every member of the family to enjoy, especially in the summer time. It was a popular spot and I remember times when it was extremely crowded. It was a part of my growing years. I think it closed down in the early 70s but I'm not sure of the exact time. It's a shame it's not still in operation.
ole nib
22 comments:
Boy oh boy did you stir up some old memories. Lake Marwin ruled back in the day.
I remember as a small child going there on Sundays after church with my family. I started out in the kiddie pool then worked my way up to the big pool! Never was a good swimmer though.
We always laid our blankets and towels on the grassy hillside and hit both concession stands. That place was always packed on Sundays.
I remember the big blue gill and catfish that would come almost out of the water when you threw them something to eat. The paddle boats were fun as well.
Don't forget the springboard Ole Nib! It was located on the upper right side of the pool.
An occasional blue gill would make it's way into the large pool via a hole in the side.
As I grew older and started high school,friday nights at the dance hall was the bomb! You learned how to dance there or at least thought we learned how to dance,then moved onto the Aquanaut Lounge.
I am almost 49 now,but I fondly remember the good ole' times at the Lake and the dance hall. Sure wish we could go back in time!
Thanks for bringing up the good ole' days and good and fun memories!
Nib,did you ever venture to the Aquanaut or was that after your hay days? LOL Don't forget the skating rink on Rt.39,too. That was a blast,too!
Kids don't know what they are missing out on these days...
I used to love that place when I was a kid.. THanks for the memory of it Ole Nib
Tbrown
I think Lake Marwin stayed running until at least the mid 80's. At some point it became "Johnny's Landing"
Wow, flashbacks, thanks for the trip down memory lane Ole Nib!
Nice !
I loved that place too. I decided to drive up there last year to see what was left of it. Unfortunately not much. Only the wall of the pool that was up against the hill side Lawn remains.
I spent some time there, too. I remember that there was always mucic playing over the loudspeakers. Around 3 or 4:00, we'd hear the "Everybody Out of the Pool" song, and the lifeguards would search the deep end. I remember the Midnight Swims on Wednesdays, too, and getting great pizza from a little toaster/oven.
Wow:
Way to many memories about Lake Marwin to know where to stop or start. Lots of family reunions for the best part. I still love to look at the pictures of the whole gang, from all over, at the picnic and pool area. That was so much fun. The dances. If only there was something like that for familie and kids today. Loved it.
We Beaver Local kids didn't go to Lake Marwin (at least those in my neck of the woods, who went clear to Columbiana to Arrowhead Lake) but I've always heard it was nice. This photo and your story shows it must have been.
Doesn't anyone but me wonder why everything like this that was good and wholesome and so well-loved is gone?
We have NOTHING in this area for our kids to do. We had the skating rink in Glenmoor and it's gone. The owner couldn't get enough consistent business.
WHY??? Are kids really that different from we were at that age?
Are they so jaded as pre-teens and teens that they no longer skate, dance, swim?
Sometimes I feel so very old...
LOVED Lake Marwin..Met my 1st husband there lol..Oh yeah don't forget about Lake Samary?? Spelling?? That was a family ritual every Sunday.
Does anyone remember Lake Samary (sp) somewhere near Glenmoor? I have a few vague memories, like the high dive, but I can't recall if they had an actual pool or not. Was it a popular place like Lake Marwin?
Lake Samary did have a pool and it was located in Glenmore down behind the American Legion on the Y & O Road. The name of Samary came from the owners Sam & Mary something 'ich. Think it was Stepanovich. I'm not sure but I think that pool is gone too. I have a vague memory of hearing that liability insurance and the lack of business spelled doom of both of these places. This is pure speculation but I have a feeling that the affordability of above ground pools contributed to the loss of business at these public pools. Easy credit and relatively low prices made these pools available for a lot of home owners. There was a period when they seemed to be popping up everywhere. Water use to be relatively cheap back then.
A couple of other swimming holes that use to be popular was Bibbee's Lake and the pool at Lake Chavel. Bibbee's is out in the Apples Corner area on Rt. 267. They never had a pool but use to bring sand in to make a beach. They had a very popular spiral sliding board in the lake. Is it still in operation? Lake Chavel is a camping ground out on Rt. 45 in the Glascow area. When my kids were small the missus use to haul a load of kids out there on a regular basis. They had a small pool that was open to the public. I don't know if that's still there or not. The kids use to come home with green hair!
jobob - you brought up a good question. I think the economy of our region caused a lot of these places to go by the wayside. With spiraling costs and jobs going south with the mills and potteries closing all over the place a lot of folks just couldn't afford the luxury of taking their kids to such places. Look at the struggle ELO has every year finding funding for the Thompson Park pool. A large number of our kids today were never exposed to such activities as public swimming pools and skating rinks. They went out of business before they were born. Kay Bee Roller Rink is another once popular spot gone by the wayside. Nowadays if you can get kids away from the computers and a million different t.v. stations they roller blade and skate board on our streets. I don't think the kids are jaded. It's like you said there is NOTHING around here anymore other than organized sports. Not every kid is an athlete nor do they want to be. Unfortunately in our area there is just not enough support to run such businesses. Hopefully someday that will change. Until then all we have is our memories.
ole nib
I think these places lost their luster with the advent of computers and video games. We used to play some pong on the atari, but nowadays, it's unreal. Have you seen the xbox live Halo or NBA, or Madden. How about the new WII. These games are to die for to the kids, and I can't blame them. My son was playing Halo with some teens from Ireland, The Netherlands, Canada, and California, all at the same time and talking with them like they were in the same room. Have you heard about the Law Suits against WII for injuries from muscle strains because you have to actually do physical activities to play it. I once had an injury sliding into homebase during a game of release, "Olly Olly in come free"....
Something else I think, kids today lack the respect and discipline we had as kids. The first thing they think is "how can we destroy this nice place without getting caught. Let's just piss in the corner, nobody will see us"
I think Lake Marwin is now the site of the impound lot for the police department and Lake Samary (you can still see the lake as you leave Glenmoor toward West Point on Y&O Road is some sort of car lot, it seems.
How sad.
Spent many a Friday and Saturday night at KayBee. The owner's son, Kenny Burt (hence KayBee, probably), works for the city and their daughter, Becky, now lives in Florida. Both were wonderful skaters, as was John Torma, now an ELO councilman. They won lots of awards for skating. John's partner was Pam Marshall who I think is also in Florida somewhere.
An entire generation of kids has missed out on the innocent kinds of fun we had as kids: skating, dancing at places like Lake Marwin or Clarkson Grange, ice skating on farm ponds, just being kids.
We hurry them to grow up and then wonder why they are the way they are. When I was a teen-ager (13, 14), I still played with Barbie dolls (as did my friends). Today, girls at 14 are dating and getting pregnant and no one blinks and eye.
Going even further back...My Dad has always talked about Bridge 55 as a hot spot back in the late 40's & 50's. It's the bridge 0n 213 past the Aqua-Naut just before the RR crossing. He'd take us swimming there when we were kids.
I was born in 1982 and one of our hotspots was Glover's skating rink!!! Loved that place, but hated the smell. We always had a designated coat to wear when we went because it would smell sooooo musty after we left. So sad when they closed =( We also loved to go to the dances after football games. They would have them in the wrestling room or at Garfield gym.
Is Vagabond still open? We used to have family reunions there every year.
We seniors went to Bibbee's Lake for our last day of school if I remember right. They had huge rubber tires (from trucks or something?) and the guys would curl up inside and someone would roll the tires across the beach into the lake.
I remember I wore tie-dyed bell bottoms and a grey t-shirt with a yellow smiley face, the height of fashion in 1972! Oh, and don't forget the long straight hair I had ironed with my mom's iron that morning!
No blow dryers, curling irons or hot rollers (at least in my home) then.
It was such an innocent time, despite the Vietnam War, which ultimately destroyed any innocence our country enjoyed.
Oh yeah, don't forget the TUBS! That was the place to go for swimming and some real scary diving!
We were still allowed to go there and also allowed to swim at Beaver Creek State Park. Neither are allowed now, yet another piece of history gone.
The Tubs and the Forks...who could forget them. Transister radios and 3.2 beer... wall to wall blankets... You guys sure can stir up some memories.
Thanks.
old nib
The Tubs. Rocks and Sun. Anytime we girls skipped school, you can believe we were at the Tubs. Lucky Rice didn't seem to look there much.
I was digging up some information about the campground that my grandparents used to own and came across this post. My grandparents owned Lake Cha-vel back in the 80's. They actually built the swimming pool that was referred to. I used to run the pool during the summers when I was in my early teens. I admit that I wasn't an expert on pool chemistry at 13, so the green hair might have actually been my fault! Wonder if there's any other folks around that remember that place.
It's still open. I rode down there last summer to see what's left and got some photos, but it's a mere shadow of it's former self. The main lake house that was built in the 1800's is in horrible disrepair, where I remember it being the center of activity when I was a teen. Even thought it was a fine weekend day, there was only one family at the pool, and the snackbar that I ran wasn't even open. It brought back some really excellent memories, but it was kind of sad, too.
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