Laurel Park in Henderson County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

The Park and Amusement Grounds

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, February 4, 2024

1. The Park and Amusement Grounds Marker

Inscription. With support of the Hendersonville Board of Trade, the Park and Amusement Grounds were established in 1903 with the construction of a baseball field, grandstand, and a 2-story clubhouse to “provide entertainment, interest, and amusement for the strangers within our gates.”

By 1904, W.A. Smith had built an earthen dam across the ravine creating Rainbow Lake for boating and swimming, adding an entertainment facility in 1907 called the Casino.

The baseball field was created as the ballpark for the Hendersonville home team with one of the first regional games between Hendersonville and Asheville. “Echoes of wild and woolly cheers pounded on Long John Mountain across the way and rumbled through the valley” into the late 1930s.

This site was also used for the annual Western North Carolina Fair with exhibits of farm animals, fruits and vegetables, jams and jellies, art exhibits, A.F. Baker photographs, and “T.S. Morrison's Buncombe Beauty Buggies.” Yearly horse shows were followed later by automobile shows.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational Areas • Sports • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1903.

Location. 35° 18.951′ N, 82° 29.297′ W. Marker is in Laurel Park, North

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Carolina, in Henderson County. It is on Canal Drive south of Crystal Spring Drive, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 115 Crystal Spring Dr, Hendersonville NC 28739, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Mountains and in Greater Asheville.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Casino (a few steps from this marker); The Retreat Hotel (within shouting distance of this marker); The Canal (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Laurel Park Railroad (approx. 0.2 miles away); Rhododendron Lake (approx. 0.3 miles away); Crystal Spring (approx. 0.4 miles away); William Alexander Smith (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Quarry Tract (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Laurel Park.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, May 17, 2025

2. The Park and Amusement Grounds Marker

Rainbow Lake image. Click for full size.

from Everywoman's Magazine via NC Digital Collections (Public Domain), May 1919

3. Rainbow Lake

Credits. This page was last revised on June 2, 2025. It was originally submitted on February 12, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 277 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on February 12, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 2. submitted on June 2, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 3. submitted on February 13, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.