Spade Cooley - "Miss Molly"

Lakeside Amusement Park Salem Virginia

Our parents used to take us to Lakeside Amusement Park when we were kids. The place seemed surreal because it was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains and farms. The Shooting Star was a wood frame roller coaster that was the largest roller coaster in America at the time.

 There is a group called Lakesidereborn who are planning to rebuild the amusement park in Roanoke Virginia. Here is the link.

lakesidereborn.org

Mr. Hawkins' sturgeon ride

Interesting Virginia history from the Examiner.com.

http://www.examiner.com/article/mr-hawkins-sturgeon-ride

Prince Mongo

For some very strange reason I remembered a T shirt the other day that I owned in the eighty's. Why would anyone think about a shirt they owned in the eighty's is strange enough. It was a cool shirt that said something like "Prince Mongo for Mayor. And it had "Memphis" On it and a picture of a Pizza. I never knew exactly who Prince Mongo was and what this was all about. Here is his story...

Civil War Faces

 The Library of Congress collection on Flicker.

De-classified 1945 Plane Gunfight Footage

Ghoorka