Springlake Amusement Park: (Images of America)

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.

About the Author :
Douglas Loudenback, a lawyer, is an amateur Oklahoma City historian, and his Oklahoma City history blog is widely regarded as one of the best of its kind.

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.