Cambria Park

Cambria Park. . , History of Cambria Park , The Cambria Fuel Company, founded by the Kilpatrick Brothers and Collins, began mining coal in Cambria, Wyoming, on December 4, 1889, and continued until it closed on April 1, 1928. It was a successful coal mining town for decades. It was located 8 miles north of Newcastle, Wyoming, on Little Oil Creek, which was later changed to Cambria Creek., In 1923, the Cambria Fuel Company started the construction of Cambria Park and all its facilities. It was a small resort completed in 1928 at a cost of more than $250,000.00. It included the Cambria Park Casino, salt water and freshwater swimming ponds with bath houses, a museum, an 18-hole golf course and areas of pleasant landscaping for picnicking and lounging originally on 2,280 acres donated by the Cambria Fuel Company., It is located 8.2 miles north of Newcastle, Wyoming, along US Highway 85, in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. At that time this highway was known as the International Highway over U.S. 85. It was also called Newcastle, Deadwood Road., Cambria Park was never intended to be under private ownership. When the coal ran out in Cambria, and the mines closed, the Cambria Fuel Company sold Cambria Park to the entity, Cambria Park Commissioners. The facility survived until 1932, when the commissioners began leasing it. Initially to The Flying V Ranch, which had a cattle operation in the area. In 1939 the land was leased to Reno Livestock Company. And the Pentecostal Church leased it as a bible camp. During World War II, the facility was unable to pay its taxes and Weston County sold it for taxes. In 1946, the Cambria Park Commissioners took the Weston County Commissioners to court in Weston County over property taxes. The Cambria Park Commissioners felt they should not have to pay taxes because they were leasing Cambria Park to a religious group for education and religious purposes. It was determined that Cambria Park was earning monies on the leases and were not doing the religious education and activities. At that point the Cambria Park Commissioners took the case, Number 2340, to the Wyoming Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided in favor of Weston County on 11/19/1946. On May 9, 1949, the Commissioners of Cambria Park sold the land to A.P. Joyce, Ann Miller, George Lake, and Glenn Pruitt of South Dakota., The property "described and known as Cambria Park and sometimes mistakenly called Flying V Ranch", as quoted on Lease and Agreement No. 139838, Comm'rs of Cambria Park to Reno Livestock Company, entered into on November 10, 1939, is perhaps why this site came to be known as The Flying V., Cambria Park Casino , Cambria Park Casino was/is truly an authentic lodge built of wood and stone with decor to match. It includes a kitchen, dining hall, chapel, museum, dance floor, and large open rooms, among other areas of the facility. It is quite large with an old-world atmosphere., The word casino has no relationship to gambling. It meant an attractive place for entertainment for locals and those passing by., The facility has been used as a bible camp, a dude ranch, ranching, a bed and breakfast, and a place for hunters to gather. People have used it for weddings, family reunions, holiday gatherings, conventions, dances and many other types of events., Cambria Park Salt and Fresh Water Swimming Pool , Cambria Park had both salt water and freshwater swimming areas. In these was the Cambria Salt Plunge with structures such as a diving tower and diving boards. There were bath houses along the pools. Construction of the ladies' bath house was completed in July 1926. It was sixty feet long and forty-six feet of it contained forty-one booths. Picnic tables and seats were placed around the pools., There were victims of the plunge. The first was Arthur Giles, a seventeen-year-old junior in high school. He was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Newcastle, Wyoming, next to his father. People from Cambria and Newcastle raced to the park in an effort to save him. When Robert Spurgeon arrived, he was given the general area where the boy was last seen. Spurgeon dived down into the water and found the body immediately. But further efforts to revive Arthur failed., Cambria Park Golf Course , Cambria Park golf course was called "Garden of the Gods". It was/is located on the hillside across the saltwater creek. If one looks closely at the photo, you can see a face carved into the sandstone. The relevance of the face is unknown. It was an eighteen-hole course. Many tournaments were held annually on this course. People from Deadwood, South Dakota, Edgemont, South Dakota, and others participated. The foundation and some walls of the club house remain to this day. The structure of a few of the eighteen holes are still visible., Remaining Remnants of Cambria Park Golf Course Circa 2015, Signs by Wilder Graphics, Newcastle, Wyoming 2023