Edgewood Park

Edgewood Park was built by the streetcar line by Steele Hawkins Jr.  just over the hill from the country club.  Opening around 1906, it had a small zoo, skating rink, carousel and penny arcade. It closed about the time that Luna Park opened.

This shows the Penny Arcade

The Casino Walk

The first basketball team in the county formed and played at Edgewood Park on the Skating Rink

It still amazes me that in those days, with women wearing flowing dresses down to their ankles, they somehow manages to walk down all those steps and pathways to get to all the attractions over the hill....

At some point, Edgewood Park was also known as Hawkins Amusement Park ( For Steele Hawkins Jr.)

So... what happened to Edgewood Park?

    

There is some confusion about when and how the park ended. While the article claims the park was destroyed in 1911, we know the park was still open when Luna Park opened in 1913-1914.  The article below also claims the park was doing business in 1912.  We can find no proof at this time that the park ever burned down.

Coming up the hill on Edgewood Drive

And finally......

RARE, TURN OF THE CENTURY POSTCARD

Edgewood was Charleston's first planned suburb, and boasted utilities, planned streets, and a trolley line running from downtown to the top of Edgewood Drive. Augustus Smith Guthrie built the neighborhood's first house in 1907. In this artest's rendering, you can see (left to right) Summerset Drive, Edgewood Drive,  Springdale Drive, Greendale Drive.  Lower Chester Road is the first right off Springdale,  Beech Ave is the first right off Edgewood Dr.  There you also see Poplar Dr.  The second right off Edgewood is Swarthmore,  which extends down over the hill and up the other side.

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