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Idlewild: History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park
Idlewild and SoakZone has charmed people across Western Pennsylvania and beyond since the late 1800s.
The park was developed by Pittsburgh's Mellon family as a picnic grove to boost traffic on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. When C.C. Macdonald took the helm in 1931, rides, entertainment and other attractions came to Idlewild over the next half century, along with the adjacent Story Book Forest. After joining the Kennywood family of amusement parks, Idlewild added a Wild West town, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a water slide complex. Author Jennifer Sopko tells the heartwarming history of a Pennsylvania amusement park that continues to delight generations of families.
The park was developed by Pittsburgh's Mellon family as a picnic grove to boost traffic on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. When C.C. Macdonald took the helm in 1931, rides, entertainment and other attractions came to Idlewild over the next half century, along with the adjacent Story Book Forest. After joining the Kennywood family of amusement parks, Idlewild added a Wild West town, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a water slide complex. Author Jennifer Sopko tells the heartwarming history of a Pennsylvania amusement park that continues to delight generations of families.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
304 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2018
3 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Sopko
3 books5 followersJennifer Sopko is a writer and historian with a love of local history. A Pittsburgh native who grew up in White Oak Borough, her writing projects focus on Western Pennsylvania history with goals of enlightening readers about forgotten and obscure regional history and reinterpreting connections between familiar stories. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
Since 2003, Jennifer has written about the Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland County and Western Pennsylvania for several regional publications, including the Latrobe Bulletin, the Ligonier Echo, Westmoreland History magazine and Western Pennsylvania History magazine. She is the author of two books published by The History Press: Ligonier Valley Vignettes: Tales from the Laurel Highlands (2013), a series of historical vignettes about Pennsylvania’s Ligonier Valley; and Idlewild: History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park (2018) a comprehensive history of the Western Pennsylvania railroad picnic grove and its development into a beloved and award-winning amusement park. She is currently working on a new book covering lost amusement parks in Western Pennsylvania.
Jennifer is also an active community volunteer, serving as co-chair for the Westmoreland County Historical Society (WCHS) 2015 and 2016 annual fundraisers and regularly helping the Ligonier Valley Library’s Pennsylvania Room, where she was guest curator for historic photo and memorabilia shows about Pennsylvania drive-in theaters (2009) and Idlewild Park (2019). She is a member of the WCHS, the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association, the National Amusement Park Historical Association and American Coaster Enthusiasts Western Pennsylvania.
Jennifer also enjoys playing flute with the Penn Trafford Community Flute Choir and the Penn Trafford Community Band. Follow her at www.jennifersopko.com.
Since 2003, Jennifer has written about the Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland County and Western Pennsylvania for several regional publications, including the Latrobe Bulletin, the Ligonier Echo, Westmoreland History magazine and Western Pennsylvania History magazine. She is the author of two books published by The History Press: Ligonier Valley Vignettes: Tales from the Laurel Highlands (2013), a series of historical vignettes about Pennsylvania’s Ligonier Valley; and Idlewild: History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park (2018) a comprehensive history of the Western Pennsylvania railroad picnic grove and its development into a beloved and award-winning amusement park. She is currently working on a new book covering lost amusement parks in Western Pennsylvania.
Jennifer is also an active community volunteer, serving as co-chair for the Westmoreland County Historical Society (WCHS) 2015 and 2016 annual fundraisers and regularly helping the Ligonier Valley Library’s Pennsylvania Room, where she was guest curator for historic photo and memorabilia shows about Pennsylvania drive-in theaters (2009) and Idlewild Park (2019). She is a member of the WCHS, the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association, the National Amusement Park Historical Association and American Coaster Enthusiasts Western Pennsylvania.
Jennifer also enjoys playing flute with the Penn Trafford Community Flute Choir and the Penn Trafford Community Band. Follow her at www.jennifersopko.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 15, 2023
Not only was this a fascinating look at Pennsylvania's oldest amusement park but it also brought back so many happy childhood memories. Starting its life as just a picnic ground, the park slowly grew into the place it is today. When the strip of land was first leased from the Darlington farm (for no rent, amazingly) there was only one stipulation: no trees were to be cut down. Over the years and across several owners the park has basically stayed true to that tenet. If any trees had to be cut, more were planted, sometimes even replacing the lost trees with more than were taken down.
I enjoyed reading about the building of the Rollo Coaster and remembered how unique I thought a coaster through the trees was when I first rode on it as a youngster. While reading I also was surprised that I had forgotten one aspect of the Caterpillar ride - a burst of air from underneath the seats at a certain point. The photo of the rocket ship ride also brought back memories.
The first ride put into the park was the merry-go-round, and as the years went by more rides were added, as well as a pool. Some rides and sections of the park have gone by the wayside to be replaced by new attractions. Today the park has seven distinct areas, including Storybook Forest, SoakZone and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.
If you have ever visited Idlewild, and even if you haven't, this book is a wonderful look at the progressive growth of a fun place.
I enjoyed reading about the building of the Rollo Coaster and remembered how unique I thought a coaster through the trees was when I first rode on it as a youngster. While reading I also was surprised that I had forgotten one aspect of the Caterpillar ride - a burst of air from underneath the seats at a certain point. The photo of the rocket ship ride also brought back memories.
The first ride put into the park was the merry-go-round, and as the years went by more rides were added, as well as a pool. Some rides and sections of the park have gone by the wayside to be replaced by new attractions. Today the park has seven distinct areas, including Storybook Forest, SoakZone and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.
If you have ever visited Idlewild, and even if you haven't, this book is a wonderful look at the progressive growth of a fun place.
May 13, 2023
Review title: Keeping the trees
Idlewild Park just west of Ligonier, Pennsylvania is a railroad park that had been in continuous operation (except for two years during World War II) for over 140 years. This is its story. It is important to me personally because my wife and I had one of our first dates here over 40 years ago, and because we now live just half a mile from the current entrance and can now take our grandchildren to experience what their parents were able to experience with us.
Established by the Ligonier Valley Rail Road (see my review of a local history of this small spur line, the original agreement between the railroad and the Darlington family that owned the land stipulated that "no timber or other trees are to be cut or injured.", establishing a precedent that has persisted so that nearly 150 years later the park remains heavily wooded and beautifully shady on hot summer days. (p. 23). Picnics, walks, dances in the large dance pavilion, and boat rides on two man made lakes by the Loyalhanna Creek, all in Sunday-best suits and dresses, were the main activities for the first 50 years at the park. The railroad promoted group picnics for church, school, civic, business, and union groups to escape the polluted air of Pittsburgh and surrounding mill towns and boost the railroad's ridership.
Beginning in the 1930s, automobile traffic on the Lincoln Highway that ran just north of the park began to replace train passengers, and the Mellon family who owned the railroad and the park turned management of the park over to the Macdonald family, who would manage the park through 50 years and two generations. They began to add amusement park rides, including the historic carousel and the wooden Rollo Coaster which have been in place, maintained, and restored now approaching a century. The walk-through Story Book Forest next door was opened in 1956 and added to Idlewild, along with a kids-ride section, a waterpark, and other sections including a Mr. Rogers-designed and -themed trolley ride through his Neighborhood, now updated to a Daniel Tiger theme.
Jennifer Sopko, a local historian and expert in western Pennsylvania amusement parks, does a great job researching, footnoting, and writing the history of both the business side and the amusement side of Idlewild. Her history helps the reader understand and appreciate the difficult decisions that have helped keep the park open, growing, surviving and even thriving through parts of three centuries, the great depression of the 1930s, death of the railroad in 1952, the great demographic and economic changes of the period, and two ownership changes in the last 40 years.
Through it all, the trees and picnics shared by families and groups at tables and pavilions scattered throughout the park remain central to its charm and continued success. Guests are allowed and encouraged to bring their own picnic lunches and spend the day enjoying the clear air and gentle thrills of Idlewild Park. It's a unique experience and Sopko's history is a valuable addition.
Idlewild Park just west of Ligonier, Pennsylvania is a railroad park that had been in continuous operation (except for two years during World War II) for over 140 years. This is its story. It is important to me personally because my wife and I had one of our first dates here over 40 years ago, and because we now live just half a mile from the current entrance and can now take our grandchildren to experience what their parents were able to experience with us.
Established by the Ligonier Valley Rail Road (see my review of a local history of this small spur line, the original agreement between the railroad and the Darlington family that owned the land stipulated that "no timber or other trees are to be cut or injured.", establishing a precedent that has persisted so that nearly 150 years later the park remains heavily wooded and beautifully shady on hot summer days. (p. 23). Picnics, walks, dances in the large dance pavilion, and boat rides on two man made lakes by the Loyalhanna Creek, all in Sunday-best suits and dresses, were the main activities for the first 50 years at the park. The railroad promoted group picnics for church, school, civic, business, and union groups to escape the polluted air of Pittsburgh and surrounding mill towns and boost the railroad's ridership.
Beginning in the 1930s, automobile traffic on the Lincoln Highway that ran just north of the park began to replace train passengers, and the Mellon family who owned the railroad and the park turned management of the park over to the Macdonald family, who would manage the park through 50 years and two generations. They began to add amusement park rides, including the historic carousel and the wooden Rollo Coaster which have been in place, maintained, and restored now approaching a century. The walk-through Story Book Forest next door was opened in 1956 and added to Idlewild, along with a kids-ride section, a waterpark, and other sections including a Mr. Rogers-designed and -themed trolley ride through his Neighborhood, now updated to a Daniel Tiger theme.
Jennifer Sopko, a local historian and expert in western Pennsylvania amusement parks, does a great job researching, footnoting, and writing the history of both the business side and the amusement side of Idlewild. Her history helps the reader understand and appreciate the difficult decisions that have helped keep the park open, growing, surviving and even thriving through parts of three centuries, the great depression of the 1930s, death of the railroad in 1952, the great demographic and economic changes of the period, and two ownership changes in the last 40 years.
Through it all, the trees and picnics shared by families and groups at tables and pavilions scattered throughout the park remain central to its charm and continued success. Guests are allowed and encouraged to bring their own picnic lunches and spend the day enjoying the clear air and gentle thrills of Idlewild Park. It's a unique experience and Sopko's history is a valuable addition.
August 23, 2021
Grew up in Latrobe area near Idewild Park. Scene of my school picnics (K-10). Visited with my children and grandchildren even though it was now an hour drive. Perfect escape from the city and perfect for family visits with younger children.
Enjoyed the history and details of this book. Well documented.
Enjoyed the history and details of this book. Well documented.
July 16, 2025
I have visited Idlewild twice in my life, and I enjoyed finding out more about the history behind it. Idlewild is a wonderful park. You should visit it if you haven't.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews