True and false ‘Ville

trivia with Don King

1. There used to be a roller skating rink in Indian Park? Answer: True

50 percent of students answered true

50 percent of students answered false

2. The trolley ran to Indian Park for only $1? Answer: False, it ran for only five cents

72 percent of students answered true

28 percent of students answered false

3. The first cemetery was under a railroad? Answer: True

26 percent of students answered true

74 percent of students answered false

4. There used to be a steel roller coaster in Indian Park? Answer: False, it was a wooden roller coaster

62 percent of students answered true

38 percent of students answered false

5. Indian Park was originally named Starr Island? Answer: True

16 percent of students answered true

84 percent of students answered false

6. John Green was the name of the park band? Answer: False, the name was John Hazzel

36 percent of students answered true

64 percent of students answered false

7. The overflowing of mill dams was the reason Indian Park was frequently flooded? Answer: True

62 percent of students answered true

38 percent of students answered false

8. Gypsies used to occupy the current High School Football Field? Answer: False, they occupied the Middle School Soccer Field hill

45 percent of students answered true

• 55 percent of students answered false

9. The Flight 800 Memorial was placed on top of an Indian Burial ground? Answer: False, it is on top of a burial ground, just not an Indian one

48 percent of students answered true

52 percent of students answered false

10. The Indian Park Theatre seated 1,000 people? Answer: True

67 percent of students answered true

33 percent of students answered false

The ‘Ville’s history in writing

Borough historian Don King wrote many “booklets” about the history of Montoursville, which can be found at the library.

Most of them were written in the ’90s and the last revision made was in 2005.

King got his information from “My grandfather who was the mayor and I listened to the stories he told me as a child,” said King. “I also hiked a lot in the area and many things from the history were left over. My cabin at Indian Park also held many old relics that my siblings and I would discover.”

The centennial in 2000 had a lot to do with these books.

King was asked why he wrote his books and he said “I had a lot of information that I felt needed to be written down and preserved.”

Urban legends of Montoursville

There is a burial ground located under the Flight 800 Memorial, but it is not an Indian Burial Ground. John Rockafeller was the founder of this burial ground, said borough historian Don King.

The very first cemetery here was located under a railroad.

King said Brass Edgewood was assigned the job of moving the dead bodies from a cemetery. He used a wheelbarrow to move each body to a new location. Then, his job was to also move ice. He used the same wheelbarrow to move the ice to its location as he did the dead bodies. Just remember that the next time you want some ice from a restaurant.

There also was a place called the Gypsy’s Hill. They were not allowed into town because of prejudice against Gypsies. That location is now the soccer fields at the Middle School, King said.

Many more legends can be found in Mr. King’s books, but these are some of the most famous.

Indian Park … it used to be fun

There used to be an amusement park in the town of Montoursville. It was located at what is now known as Indian Park.

There you could find many attractions including what was the largest roller-coaster in the Eastern United States, said borough historian Mr. Don King.

The name? Starr Island.

Starr Island was a big attraction that had a running trolley, a roller coaster, a park theatre, a park band, a merry-go-round and may other attractions.

King said the roller coaster was named the Dip-to-Dip and was made of wood. It ran the length of the park and was known by all the locals.

The trolley ran into Indian Park and could take riders many places for only 5 cents. Around 1925, the trolley stopped, according to King.

The park theatre could hold up to 1000 people. It showed old time movies and sold many souvenirs.

The park band was run by John Hazzel. He was known well and even wrote music for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. His music inspired dancing throughout the whole park.

“Dancing was one of the biggest things in the park,” said King. “You could find people dancing anywhere in the park, especially on the bridge.”

There was also a roller-skating rink, where lots of dancing happened also.

The bridge used to connect two sections of the park. A river ran through the bottom. Now, trees cover the land where the river used to be and soccer fields are covering the land where the bridge was, said King.

The merry-go-round was the first attraction to be built in the park. However, the owners of the park wanted to tax the merry-go-round and the attraction soon fell.

The merry-go-round horses were stripped from the carousel and burned with a pile of wood. The only thing that remained was the skeleton of metal from the carousel.

According to King, soon after, the park was shut down due to massive flooding. The flooding due to the mill dam caused much damage to the park. Also, automobiles were becoming popular and many people started to travel and the visitors of the park dramatically decreased.

Later, the community tried to make the park into a church camp.

That soon fell too, but not before a local church baptized people in the creek of the park.