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Parks, picnic grounds, recreation
[More to come for this page. This is the old page, not updated yet.]
[Park near Schwabe St., name unknown] - below Schwabe St. (From Tom Detweiler: There was also a playground behind my grandparents house, my grandfather helped construct it and the small meeting/grill house. I would say it was constructed between 1958 and 1960. There was also a reservoir behind their house in the play ground area. I used to fall into that at least once a summer chasing frogs. I'm not sure if the playground had a name or not. At least I can't remember anyone referring to it with a name. It had swings, a merry-go-round, a sliding board, and a couple of sandboxes. If I remember Schwabe street correctly it was South of it. You had to drive down a dirt and stone "road" to get to the playground. We used to sleigh ride down that road in the winter.) (From Chuck Tancin: I think I collected frogs' eggs and caught tadpoles somewhere near that park, maybe in that reservoir, with Bernadette Banja sometime when we were in grade school. I thought she called it the 2nd Ward Park, but I don't know …)
4th Ward Park (swings, sliding board, picnic facilities, baseball field) - between Walnut & Foster Streets?
Angela
Park - Route 309 (amusement park and picnic area, not in Freeland,
but much loved by many Freelanders) (Thanks to Captain Clint for this
postcard image.)
Fairchild's Pool
(photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society)[Park behind Freeland High School] - Dewey and Alvin Streets (From Karl Krone: There was a park and ball field on the grounds of the current Freeland Elementary School. It was located north of the old FHS building in a rectangle bordered by Dewey & Alvin Streets, the outdoor FHS Basketball Courts and the alley between Birbeck Street and the high school. It had a sandbox, swings and teter totters. It was a short walk from there to Spock's Store. The ball field was used as an extension of gym class and for pickup ball games. The park was there from at least before the early 50's and lasted until they built the new Freeland Elementary School sometime in approximately the late 70's. It was right below Freeland High School.It ended in a V at the junction of Alvin Street and the school alley.)
Little League Field (baseball field) - Luzerne & Vine Streets
M & M Roller Rink - Ridge & South Streets (Mr. Mills, proprietor, early 1960s) (former factory; later a warehouse for Balas's Tires)
Nocchi's Pool - Schwabe St. (Tony Nocchi)
Public Park
(swings, sliding board, merry-go-round, dance hall, picnic facilities)
- Front St., between Washington & Birkbeck Streets. The black and
white postcard shows a long-gone fence.Rossi's Ice Skating Rink - Carbon St., near Adams St. and near the railroad trestle, which no longer exists (Marino Rossi, proprietor)
St. Casimir's Picnic Grove (in what is known as St. Ann's)
St. Mary's Grove (dance hall, picnic facilities) - St. Ann's Drive
St. Michael's Bowling Alley (bowling alley, dance hall, pirohi sales) - Fern & Carbon Streets
St. Michael's Park (swings, sliding board, breezeway, picnic facilities) - Luzerne St., between Fern & Vine Streets
Stoffa's Pool
and Grove - Rte. 309, Drums (Joseph Stoffa, proprietor) (From Ed
Merrick: My friends and I spent so many afternoons there, and I have
always regretted that I never took a single photo of the place. The
water was always freezing cold because there was no filter system since
there was a constant fresh flow from a mountain stream that fed the
pool. We stored our clothes in a box, which had a number and which we
turned in at therefreshment stand attached to the bathhouse. If you forgot your number, you had to
wait until all the other boxes had been emptied to get the one that was left. My
friends and I would hitchhike down and back. There was a trail through the woods
that eliminated having to walk along the hairpin curve in the steep road there, but that meant you missed your chance of picking up a ride.) (Photo from Al Stoffa.)
Tigers' Field (baseball field) - Hazle St., at south end of Centre St.
Victory Grove - (park with dancehall) Freeland-Sandy Run crossroads (From Tom Detweiler: My Grandfather also helped build the Victory Grove and Mickey Mike and Mary, my grandmother's half-brother and his wife, ran the place. I remember they had a small bar right next to the larger building.)
YMCA
(basketball court also used for dances, bowling alley, meeting rooms) -
Front St., between Washington & Birkbeck Streets________ [and a mystery park …] (From Tom Detweiler: There was also some sort of playground or park behind my grandfather's brother's house on Ridge Street. I remember that it had a cement block club house/bar right smack dab in the middle of the field. My grandfather would always take us up there and we usually came away with free creamcicles. I don't know if it still exists or houses were built on it.)
[Thanks to Ed Merrick. Tom Detweiler, Al Stoffa, Karl Krone for additions and corrections. Thanks to Al Stoffa for the images of the pool and the season ticket, too.]