Springlake Amusement Park (Images of America: Oklahoma) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Oklahoma City, Daily Oklahoman, Roy Staton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Publication: News OK

Article Title: Amusement park mirrored city

Author: Pam Henry

Date: 11/2/2008



The history of Springlake Amusement Park includes a fun aspect of Oklahoma City. But "Springlake Amusement Park” (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99), a book about that history, also is serious. ENT



The amusement park opened in 1924 on land owned by Roy Staton. It grew on his 110 acres in northeast Oklahoma City. Staton opened some of his land to the Springland Dancing Pavilion in 1922. While earlier Oklahoma City amusement parks were closing, Staton built the Big Dipper roller coaster in 1926, and the park became a huge success.

Author Doug Loudenback preserved pictures to form a historical archive. Part of the story is the history of integration in the capital city. The park was opened to blacks in 1963.



On Easter Sunday night in 1971, three hours of racial violence broke out. It was the beginning of the end for Springlake. The park, under a new owner, closed in 1981.

The book’s pictures record the fun side of Springlake, now the site of the Springlake Campus of Metro Technology Centers.



Title: Arcadia's Springlake Amusement Park examines Oklahoma City fun spot

Author: Staff Writer

Publisher: Amusement Today

Date: March 2009



Arcadia Publishing's Springlake Amusement Park, one of the newest offerings in its long-running Images of America series, takes a look at one of Oklahoma's most beloved traditional amusement parks.



Listed as author of the 127-page book is Douglas Loudenback, a lawyer and self-proclaimed amateur Oklahoma City historian. Despite the overly subjective tone of the writing (e.g. the caption beneath a shot of the Orbit, one of Springlake's more unique attractions, reads "What mother in her right mind would willingly put her kid in such a ride?"), and the occasional photo mislabeled or printed backwards, this book offers six chapters detailing Springlake's history.



The book's strength lies in its collection of B&W photographs. These include aerial shots of the property as well as various views of the famous twin swimming pools and John Miller's 1926-built Big Dipper wooden roller coaster, which remained the park's marquee attraction for 55 years. There is even a mystery photo (page 30) that shows Springlake's miniature train in 1926 with bizarre, undulating wooden roller coaster-like hills, which the author mistakenly identifies as the Big Dipper.



Springlake Amusement Park also tackles the plight of many traditional amusement parks that survived into the second half of the 20th century – forced racial integration. As with other parks of that era, Springlake suffered terribly, and by the late 1960’s it had developed an unsavory reputation. Many long time guests, some refusing to accept integration, feared for their safety and chose to stay away. The book concludes with a description of the violent Easter 1971 racially-motivated riot that many feel signaled the beginning of the end for this once proud American park. Despite a strict new admissions policy and the sale to new owners in 1977, the damage was done. Springlake closed forever in 1981.



Springlake Amusement Park is available at area bookstores, independent retailers, online bookstores, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com.

Product Description

From 1924 through 1981, Springlake was Oklahoma City's premier place for fun for everyone around the state. Park enthusiast Carla Williams Noffsinger mirrors the comments of so many of the park's patrons when she says, I grew up in Moore. We spent many a happy hour at Springlake. We always heard bad stories about the Big Dipper, but that was the first ride we would hit. I remember my cousin wetting her pants once on the Tilt-A-Whirl; we laugh about that to this day. As far as my family was concerned, it was just good, clean old-fashioned fun. My cousins would come up in the summer from southeast Oklahoma, and Springlake was at the top of the list of places to go. For all its goodness, Springlake was flawed, remaining segregated longer than many other businesses during the tumultuous civil rights era. Forced to integrate by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Springlake adapted poorly instead of opening its huge pool to all swimmers and sunbathers, the pool became an aquarium. Racial tensions culminated on Easter 1971 with a small but important racially based riot from which the park never fully recovered.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (October 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738561797
• ISBN-13: 978-0738561790
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #505,555 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Must read" for Baby boomers!!, October 28, 2008

By	Roger Harris (Ada, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you lived in or around Oklahoma City from the mid-30's to the mid 70's,Springlake Amusement Park was a prime destination, especially if you were a kid. This new book (more of a pictorial really) takes us from Springlake's beginnings all the way to it's rather sad end. Before this, pictures of the park were scarce and there was precious little else to be seen save the occasional memorabilia that pops up on E-Bay. The author has delved deep into public and private archives to offer up some amazing photos of all areas of this great Oklahoma City attraction. This was a magical place for two generations and the book does a great job of showcasing Springlake from both a historical perspective and a personal objective. As a kid whose father drove the train at the park, I spent many a glorious summer there. This book helps capture that bygone era and all of those fond memoroies when times were simple, and ample fun could be had from something as simple as a merry-go-round. Roger Harris-Ada, Oklahoma

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood memories, December 6, 2008

By	kit-kat - See all my reviews

I grew up going to Springlake so this was an excellent way to go back and look at the park and remember those good times. The narrative and pictures in the book are excellent and bring back alot of memories.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Was Expecting, November 11, 2008

By	A. McDonald "Local History Buff" (Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Because Springlake was such a part of our growing up I was really excited about the just released book and had planned to buy several copies to give family members for Christmas. But except for the pictures that brought back a lot of memories I found the book to be a big disappointment. There's no way the history of Springlake could be written without the unfortunate demise connecting with the changing culture of the country but Loudenback's book was more of a editorial than a history. My great-grandparents were managers of the Sinopoulo estate, the developers of Delmar Gardens, so our connection with amusement parks in Oklahoma go back a hundred years. The Sinopoulo place is on Kelley not far from Springlake so my mother and her sisters got to go to the park when they were visiting their grandparents in the 20s and 30s. In turn, as youngsters, my brother and sister and I traveled to Oklahoma City every summer during the 1940's and 50's for our day at the zoo and Springlake. We also went with church groups, Scout groups and youth baseball teams. Then in the early 60's we attended Oklahoma Christian College, just a few miles away and made good use of Springlake as "cheap" amusement. So our family has an important link to such a magical place. The change in societal issues was long overdue and needed but it wasn't just at Springlake. The park just became a lightening rod because of how famous it was and much of it was because of the location. Nothing is mentioned about the biggest reason for "white flight" and the need for what seems today to be terrible "rules" - it was the gangs, not the ordinary black families and young people. In fact, families of any color discontinued going to Springlake by the end of the 60's as well as many other similar places. My last trip was about 1968 when I went as a chaperone with a Sunday School class from out of town and it was an unpleasant experience as young men walked about in groups and we felt intimidated. The sad ending to Springlake is a story that must be told but one chapter at the end instead of continual remarks would have sufficed. I also didn't like Mr. Loudenback's smart remarks about the dress of the people in the photos or their actions . . . way too much editorializing and "cute" remarks. I wish he had stuck to a standard history of Springlake Amusement Park. I won't be giving my 90 year old mother a copy - I don't think Loudenback's words are the way she remembers Springlake.