Rose
Island on a Summer Day
This 60-minute video reflects upon an earlier time when just getting somewhere was half the fun. Join amateur historian Tom Chapman as he visits with twenty-five individuals that visited Rose Island, worked at Rose Island, and even lived at Rose Island. An amusement park that was touted as "a play-ground and pleasure resort unexcelled anywhere within the central states."
This collection of first person interviews is rich in historical photos, maps, and images of the earlier Fern Grove Picnic Area, and Rose Island. As seen through the eyes of children, you'll hear about the fun and wonders found at Rose Island over seventy years ago.
 Steamboat Entrance to Rose Island |
Proceeds from the sale of this video go to support the Clark's Grant Historical Society in Charlestown, Indiana. Secure, encrypted credit card orders can be placed above. A fax/mail order form can also be printed and sent in with payment. If you have memories of Fern Grove and/or Rose Island, photographs, or artifacts that you would be willing to share with us, please email info@roseislandvideo.com |
Rose
Island Amusement Park
The History of Rose Island
In 1886,
the Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company purchased 118 acres of
property along the Ohio River, at the bottom of the Devil's Backbone (a
geologic wonder comprised of a narrow limestone wall), and built a picnic
area called Fern Grove. The flat, open areas were ideal for large groups
and the high bluff provided an excellent panoramic view of the Ohio River
Valley. The property was to be primarily used by church groups wanting
to hold picnics. They built a 12-room hotel named Fern Cliff Hotel to
accommodate overnight guests.
An entrepreneur by the name of David B.G. Rose purchased the property
in 1923 and renamed it Rose Island. The peninsula of land was not a true
island, but had the appearance of one due to the way Fourteen Mile creek
cut back on itself with the backbone in the middle. The amusement park
grew to become a major attraction for Ohio River communities including
Louisville, Kentucky and the Indiana cities of Jeffersonville, Clarksville,
and New Albany. During the mid 1920's over 135,000 annual visitors made
their way to Rose Island.
 The Rose Island Steamboat |
 Fern Cliff Hotel |
If you enjoyed adventure, just getting there was something quite unusual
in itself. The basic mode of travel to the park was by steamboat. The
steamer "America" was a 4,000 passenger, rear paddle wheeler
that measured 286' long by 83' wide. Owned and operated by The River Excursion
Company, the America provided the major means of travel to Rose Island.
A ticket on the America cost $.25 for adults and $.15 for children under
the age of 12. Additional steamboats such as the side-wheeler "Rose
Island," the rear paddle wheeler "Liberty," the "Sunshine,"
and smaller passenger boats like the "Vivianne III" provided
shuttle service from the Falls Cities and the Kentucky side of the river.
A parking lot was built along River Road, in Louisville, and shuttle service
was available every ten minutes to the park.
For the privileged owners of an automobile, usually a model T, access
was possible from the Indiana side of the river along a bumpy and steep
road winding down from Highway 62 to the west side of Fourteen Mile Creek.
A 400' swinging bridge provided a walkway across the creek into the amusement
park. The foundations of the bridge are still visible today.
Steamboat passengers arriving at Rose Island were met with a boat landing
and impressive, electric lighted entrance sign. The arched "Rose
Island" sign sat upon three columns of native limestone and were
topped with Gothic styled lamp posts. Rose Island visitors had ample activities
and facilities for their recreational visits. The twelve room hotel and
twenty-two furnished cottages provided lodging for overnight and week
long visits. A 400 seat restaurant and additional 100 seat cafeteria combined
with a delicatessen served some of the finest foods in the area. The Rose
Island Company owned their own flock of chickens for eggs and poultry
and a purebred herd of Jersey cows supplied fresh milk, rich cream, and
pure country butter. Meals were often rounded off with fresh fish caught
from the Ohio River by the staff fishermen.
Recreational facilities included a swimming pool, dance pavilion, orchestra,
merry-go-round, baseball fields, zoo, miniature golf course, shooting
gallery, bird shows, row boat rentals, fountain, picnic tables for 1,600
people, hiking trails that included a set of wooden steps up to "Lovers
Lane" on the Devil's Backbone, and a pony track complete with fifteen
shetland ponies.
 Rose Island Carosel |
 Dance Pavillion |
Operational facilities at the park included a ten ton ice plant, two motor
boats, a "never failing spring", four 6-inch wells ranging in
depth from 120 to 220 feet, and a 16,000 gallon water tower.
Mr. Rose was not only the owner and general manager of Rose Island but,
he was also the reason for it's management success. Posted rules included
No Gambling, No Drinking, and Animals Must Not Be Molested". A sign
that hung in the hotel summarized the extent of the dream that was held
for the recreational value of Rose Island:
Our
Creed
To provide clean, safe, wholesome outdoor recreation for everybody.
To fill the hearts of children with joy while spending their hours of
play in the sunshine and fresh air.
To treat our patrons as our guests and by courteous manners make them
our friends,
who will look upon our island with pride and as a benefit to the community.
To send every Man, Woman, and Child home feeling that the time has been
Well Spent and eager to return.
The Rose Island Company
The park was extremely successful during the 1920's but, like businesses across the country the depression took its toll on Rose Island. By 1931 the Rose Island Company was losing money and had a loss of $871. Continuing to provide entertainment through the mid 1930's the park unknowingly had it's last season in 1936. The devastating flood of 1937 completely wiped out the park and inundated everything with up to ten feet of water. Rose Island was washed away like the homes and businesses of so many thousands of people living along the Ohio River that year and it ceased to exist.
The video is also available at the following locations:
Charlestown
•Charlestown Public Library
Clarksville
•Falls of the Ohio State Park Interpretive Center
•Clark/Floyd County Convention & Tourism Bureau
Jeffersonville
•Howard Steamboat Museum
•Schimpff's Confectionery
New Albany
•Destinations Booksellers
