Virginia Room Digital Collection

Welcome!

The Virginia Room Digital Collection includes photographs, oral histories, books, pamphlets and finding aids to items in the Virginia Room. Continue to check back for new additions.

Browse Items (15 total)

CPC 14a Riverside Park.jpg
People sitting on the knoll overlooking the pool in Riverside Park.

CPC 14b Riverside Park.jpg
Pool at Riverside Park

Davis2 19.1 YMCA Pool.jpg
View of the pool inside the old YMCA building, formerly located at 425 Church Avenue, now the Locker Room Lofts.

Davis 71.14 Craig Healing Springs.jpg
Guests in the swimming pool at Craig Healing Springs.

PC 140.1 Lakeside.jpg
"Concrete swimming lake, Lakeside", Roanoke, Virginia. Two million gallons fresh water changing constantly."

PC 140.11 Lakeside.jpg
"Concrete swimming lake, Lakeside, Roanoke, Virginia. Two million gallons fresh water changing constantly."

BM362.jpg
Finnell’s Pool on Route 221, near foot of Bent Mountain.

sr061.jpg
Lakeside was opened in 1920 by Robert Lynn, Sr., and featured a public swimming pool, roller coaster and one additional ride. The original 50-acre tract on which Lakeside was built was an orchard owned by John Bower.

sr062.jpg
In 1936, Lakeside was purchased by H.L. Roberts, and his family owned and operated Lakeside for the next fifty years. When the amusement park opened it was described as “the largest pool anyone had ever seen,” complimented by a beach of imported…

sr064.jpg
Lakeside survived the Depression by offering low admission prices and cheap entertainment. During World War II, the USO provided servicemen complimentary tickets. There was even a movement in 1958 by nearby residents to constitute themselves as the…

sr067.jpg
Lakeside was for many decades the most popular draw for Valley residents and tourists in the region. Offering rides, amusements, recreation, and concerts, Lakeside was complimented by Dixie Caverns, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and being at the…

sr068.jpg
Aunt Katherine wrote her nephew in Salisbury, Maryland, using this card, the following: “How would you like to go in bathing here? Uncle Frank and the boys are in now. It is fresh water. They have slides and swings and acting bars and every kind…

YMCA018.jpg
William A. Hunton Branch YMCA

FE019 Lakeside.jpg
Lakeside Amusement Park was built in 1920 on Mason's Creek. The "lake" seen here was the area's first public swimming pool, complete with sand beach. Also visible is the "Thriller" rollercoaster and the bumper car pavilion.

RVNH40299.jpg
Washington Park pool.
Output Formats

atom, dc-rdf, dcmes-xml, json, omeka-xml, rss2