Tyrone’s Reservoir Park today is a picturesque spot for the public to go for walks and relaxation. The park contains several picnic pavilions, trails, and a fishing pond and playground equipment for the kiddos.
The large Park Pavilion that once stood across the stream from Picnic Table 1 bowed under the weight of a heavy snowfall in January 1978. Volunteers worked over the next two years to wipe away the last traces of the structure. In its heyday, the Park Pavilion was a beautiful building in which teenagers danced over the years. The jitterbug and the Lindy Hop were favorite dances of that time. People loved to go and just stand outside and watch the kids inside dancing. Benches lined the sides inside the building. The side windows opened out for an atmosphere of openness when the dance floor was in use.
The Pavilion was built in 1936 by Work Progress Administration (WPA) workers. Lumber for the Pavilion was milled from oak trees on borough watershed property. The Pavilion collapsed under the weight of the snow on January 25, 1978. The building was torn down in 1979. Thousands of teenagers and adults danced to the tunes of the 1941 Model 730 Wurlitzer juke box or dance bands.
The following article by the late Suzanne Sickler Ohl, one of the founders of the Tyrone Area Historical Society, describes “the way it was” at Reservoir Park in the early 1950s.
Reservoir Park in the Early 1950s
Tyrone’s municipally owned Reservoir Park is one of the most beautiful parks of its kind in central Pennsylvania. Located about one mile north of Tyrone’s business district, along the old Janesville Pike, it is accessible by improved highway.
The park must be seen to be appreciated, for it contains all the beauties of nature. Its natural beauty of virgin forest, with its overlapping foliage, wildflowers, grassy nooks, and gracefully drooping ferns make a scene which, enhanced by the sparkle of silver-tinted waters from Tyrone’s reservoirs, is most appealing to those who love the picturesqueness of nature, with its reverent quietude — hushed, save for the echo notes of the song of the robin and thrush.
The park became the property of the Borough of Tyrone when the water system was purchased from the Tyrone Gas and Water Company in February 1932, it being a small part of the 5500-acre tract, which is to a large extent, the watershed for the supply system. The Tyrone Water System was built and began operation in 1865. Its acquisition by the Borough in 1932 marked one of the most progressive steps in the history of the Borough. The Borough purchased the entire system for $400,000, the money being secured through the sale of bonds.
Originally, Reservoir Park was known as Stevens Park, named for A. A. Stevens, the head of the old Tyrone Gas & Water Company and a prominent Tyrone lawyer and businessman. Shortly after the Borough purchased the water system in 1932, the name was changed to Reservoir Park and has thus been known ever since.
It is enjoyed by thousands of people each year, free of charge. Its sanitary and orderly conditions and the completeness of its facilities for the comfort of both young and old cannot be excelled. It provides sheltered tables to accommodate approximately 1100 people and open tables to care for 1000 additional. There are twelve large, modern, stone fireplaces, two of which are equipped with gas, for cooking purposes, with plenty of stove wood; sanitary water flush toilets, electric lights in all shelters and buildings and throughout the park area, modern and fully equipped supervised playgrounds for children, baseball field, volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts, concession stand, ample automobile parking space within the park area, police protection, abundance of Tyrone’s good, pure water, and a large pavilion with a seating capacity of approximately 1100 persons, which provides a place for various activities such as church services, Bible conferences, band concerts, supervised private and public dancing, organization meetings, and all other forms of entertainment and educational features in keeping with a well-regulated park.
During the time when the W.P.A. was a part of our economic program, many notable improvements were made in the park. One of these is the spillway at No. 1 Reservoir, which project was started in December 1936 and completed in August 1938 at a cost of $87,920.90. Other building projects throughout the park, including the large pavilion and other shelters, tables, etc., were started in 1937 and completed in 1939 at a cost of $77,519.01.
Durable stone walls were built to confine the rippling brooks, stout bridges span the streams, and across the highway from the park a fine, a stone wall undergirds the lawn in front of the supervisor’s house. The lawn itself is worthy of mention as it is perfectly kept each year and looks as “soft and smooth as a lady’s green velvet gown.”
Just within the lower entrance to the park is a simple but artistic fountain from which gush streams of sparkling mountain water, coming to rest in a circular pool at its base, in which goldfish swim and birds drink and bathe. On the fountain is a memorial plaque bearing the names of the councilmen in office when the park was restored to its present state of attractiveness.
About a mile above the park are the two reservoirs that give it its name. They lie like beautiful, twin lakes in a ravine, on either side of which arise high, heavily wooded hills, covered with spruce, pine, maple, and oak. The scene is a magnificent blend of green in the spring and summer, and in the fall is a colorful tapestry of brown, red, gold, and green that is marvelously beautiful.
One of the outstanding attractions of Reservoir Park is its dense growth of mountain laurel and rhododendron. These shrubs are lovely even when not in bloom — with their dark, glossy, leaves, and compact shape — reaching a height of six to eight feet, lining the walks and paths like giant, green guardsmen. But when the lovely waxen flowers, faintly tinged with pink cover the entire bush, they are a sight the sheer beauty of which is hard to describe.
At the lower end of the park is a rustic, lodge-type of dwelling (originally belonging to the water company, but now privately owned), which adds an inviting and hospitable note to the landscape. In front of the building is a large, shallow, natural pond, which, with a little improvement, would make an ideal municipal swimming pool. It is a favorite skating resort in winter.
Several years ago, it was quite the thing for our group to have breakfast at Reservoir Park. Cars would begin arriving about six-thirty, and soon the tantalizing aromas of ham or bacon, fragrant coffee, and sometimes fried potatoes would be wafted on the air, mingling with the scent of wood smoke and evergreen trees. Um-m-m, good!
One time my husband and another early riser decided to give the rest of the crowd a treat. When the others arrived, the two men were presiding over two big pancake griddles, busily engaged in pouring and flopping over the brownest and tastiest pancakes anyone ever saw, which they served with butter and maple syrup.
As a community we are highly favored in having such a beautiful wholesome, restful place, entirely free from commercialism, in which to relax, renew our bodies and restore our souls. It is a friendly and hospitable spot, not only to our townspeople but to our neighbors and friends, many of whom come from miles away to enjoy the atmosphere of leisure, rest, and contentment that pervades this lovely grove.
Reservoir Park in Winter — by Bill Wertz, January 2001
Stevens Park — I like the old name better. Maybe someday it will be changed back. Always the jewel in our crown, it has changed over the years, but not much. It still remains the heart of our heritage.
The park is different in winter. A chain spans the entrance drive with signs that say, “Park Closed.” Today in early evening, a light snow covers the ground and caps the shelters over the picnic tables. The oak trees throw dark shadows — their bare branches open to the chilling wind.
The park looks much as always except for the central playground area, which seems a little lost. The Pavilion is long gone and so are some of the big, old trees. Many more trees, still standing, are dead or dying and will need to be removed before the next summer season.
The little stream, gnomon of the park and dear to the hearts of all children — the rest of us included — gurgles under a mask of ice, still alive although a bit smaller than before. The reservoir above has first claim on the overflow that feeds it. Lower down, the lake looks the same. It never was a lake — just a big ice pond — but it was, and still is, the best we had. Missing are the ice-skaters. Years back, on any crisp winter evening, and on weekends, there always would be some — perhaps two or three hundred ice-skaters of all ages. Today there are none. The park is closed.
Later, as the shadows give way to gray dusk, a pair of great horned owls, which already have refurbished their nest on the overlooking ridge, begin their nightly hunt. Their calls answer back and forth, echoing over a lonely place.
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