Buildings need not be beautiful or carved to perfection to hold a sentimental appeal. To some of the most crude structures are attached memories of early childhood in Harlan.

The first real place of amusement was erected here almost half a century ago. Three civic minded citizens of Harlan. Alva and W. Z. Gregory and George Creech saw the need of some form of amusement for old and young folks alike.

In the neighboring town of Middlesboro, a skating rink was furnishing entertainment for everyone. George Creech and Charlie Gregory journeyed to Middlesboro to look over and determine the materials they would need for a building here in Harlan.

Two 25-foot lots were bought from Grant Smith in the bottom which is now Cumberland Avenue. The only other building this side of Main Street was the house occupied by Jim Eads and family. Eads owned and operated the Harlan Weekly Enterprise.

Timber Cut On The Mountain

The men who worked on the "rink" were John Harris, Charlie, Melvin and Lloyd Gregory. The timber was cut on the Pine Mountain and hauled across the incline to Jim Pennington's saw mill two or thre miles below Harlan.

Bob Creech cut 6,000 feet of "sugar tree" lumber on the mountain for the floor. "We didn't know much about flooring," said one the workers. There was no hardwood here.

Roscoe Coldiron hauled the lumber on a wagon from the saw mill to Harlan. The workers knew nothing about sanding the floor so they did the next best thing. "We got a big flat rock that weighed about 200 pounds," the old timer said,"and tied it with a rope and let a mule drag it over the floor." they worked on the floor for a week with the mule dragging the heavy rock round and round.

Gas Lights Strung

A row of gas lights strung in the center of the building furnished plenty of light. One day while the workers labored on the roof of the structure, driving nails and adding planks, Arna Gregory played around the tool box.

The box was big and strong with a heavy lid. Arna, who was a little"chunk of a boy." was struck by the heavy lid.

'We jumped down off the building and ran to him. We thought he was killed." the worker told.

The nails, tin and "brought on" windows came from W.Z. Gregory's hardware store on Central Street. Gregory also ordered the skates.

At last the building was finished. The first real amusement place in Harlan was ready. People swarmed from all over town to skate. Little folk and big folk skated at the "rink"

Wheels Prove Difficult

One old timer told of his experiences with the skates. He had performed well on ice skates, but the one with the wheels were so different but "I could go around pretty good in thirty minutes," he confided.

They traveled for miles on horse back to the skating rink. Some times they had potatoe races. Ollie Lewis was one of the frequent visitors to the rink. The Lewis' lived at the Shady Lawn Hotel on First Street.

One night Mrs. Lewis had two visitors, Misses Elizabeth and Roxie Bailey. She sent her little daughter, Ella upstairs to bed early. They decided to go down to the rink and watch them skate. The first person they saw flying around the rink was Ella.

Familiar Faces Seen

Probably every person in Harlan skated at the rink. Some of the familiar faces seen there often were: Ollie Lewis, Zada Gregory Rutherford, Matt Smith, Roxie Bonner, Mary Ward Starns, Masie Forester, Lily and Amelia Blanton, Mattie Kelly Thacker, George Skidmore, Bob Chapman and John Browning.

There was many a spill as the skaters glided around the floor. Many recall the day when Matt Smith grabbed as she was slipping and caught her ring and cut her finger. They also rember falling in a stack when a small boy came zooming around and his dirty hands smeared over one of the girls white blouses.

They skated and skated until the floor wore slick. In came the old mule dragging the big rock to rough it up a little. Rockingham Smith was the skate repair man. He tightened the taps and strengthened the wheels of many and many skates down at the old"rink"

Sunday February 22, 1953

Volume 52 Number 44

Pages 1 & 8

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