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Friday, June 23, 2017

Green Bank Park

In the most recent post about the Capital Trail Garage, I wrote of the thrill of learning about a site or topic of which I had been previously unaware. I now present another entry in that category, located in the same corner of southeastern Mill Creek Hundred. The subject is Green Bank Park, but not the one you know, located on the former site of the county workhouse. This Green Bank Park predated even the workhouse by nearly twenty years, and appears to have operated for about two decades. Full credit for bringing this lost site to my attention goes to the wonderful Red Clay Valley History Talk Series Facebook page.

When I first saw the Facebook post featuring the park, I initially had doubts as to whether it really was what it appeared to be. My own first entryway into local history was the nearby Brandywine Springs Park more than 15 years ago. In all that time I can't recall ever hearing about a 19th Century Green Bank Park, or any other Victorian Era excursion park in the area. But sure enough, after a little research I found that it really did exist and was an early competitor to Brandywine Springs. The ending date for Green Bank is still not clear, but it seems obvious that it was a victim of the Springs' success in the early years of the new century.