LANCASTER — On the banks of the Catawba River, an amusement park served as a community gathering place for sixty years.

Complete with a carousel, a roller skating rink, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a small railroad, Springs Park was the place to be in Lancaster.

Lancaster was a “company town,” built to house the employees of Springs Industries where many residents worked in the town’s cotton textile mill that operated from 1896 through 2003.

Ten miles outside of town, Springs Park was built in the 1920s as a place for employees to enjoy their off days, but by all accounts it was open to anyone. The sprawling park spanned hundreds of acres.

It wasn’t just open for the summer. The park also had a dance hall for nighttime events, and a place to make your own vinyl record.

“It w

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