Benton were playing with firecrackers on this day and caught an outbuilding on fire. It quickly spread as there were too few people in town to help fight the blaze. Most of the southern section of Benton was burned to the ground in three hours, stopped only by it running into Fishing Creek. You can learn more about the Ben- ton Fire here: youtube.com/watch?v=uXkclMFZYPk 1913 saw the end of the logging industry in Jamison City. As things wound down, the park was sold to Nevin Hummel who planned to timber the park and neighboring lands. All picnicking and fes- tivities stopped. A year later however, Nevil sold the park land to Mr. & Mrs. Ira Sutliff and Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Seward. They retained the buildings and managed to save a lot of virgin timber. Additional new trees were planted, picnics and fish suppers returned to the park, and the park returned to relevance in the community. Mr. H. Stanley Hess and his wife B. Ione greatly enjoyed their times at the park, and in 1923 the couple purchased it from the Sutliffs and Sewards for a sum of $500.
H. Stanley & B. Ione Hess with June, Bette, & Budd, circa 1925.
still for dancing. They continued to provide suppers, picnicking, wrestling camps, baseball games, Izaak Walton meetings, reli- gious meetings, and camps for Christian services. Patrons could purchase homemade ice cream as well as candy and soda at the concession stand. Stanley had a Model-T with offset wheels that made it “bounce” as you drove it. He called it “Leaping Lena” and picnickers would pay ten cents for a ride. The car was eventually sold to Tubby Bartlow of Millville.
After Stanley passed away, his grandson, Fred Hess, and his wife Jane, purchased the park from Ione in 1971. Fred added 30 camp-
Deed transfer to H. Stanley and Beatrice Ione Hess, made July 7, 1923.
Here, they raised their five children, June, Bette, Budd, Kay, and Shirley. And as their family grew, the need for a larger home be- came more apparent. In 1930, they built a two-story home from a Sears kit which is still standing in the park today. Times were changing and people’s interests changed as well. The Hess’s converted the dance hall into a roller rink around 1940. The rink would be open on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights as well as Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. But Saturday nights were
The dance hall prior to 1940; it was later converted into a roller rink.
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