On a peninsula known as the Devil’s Backbone in the Ohio River, near Charlestown in Indiana, lies the abandoned amusement park Rose Island. The area was known in the 1880s as Fern Grove as it was rich with ferns, and was mostly used by the church for running religious camps. It was later bought and developed by The Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company.
In 1923 the property was purchased by a gentleman named David Rose. He completely turned the place around, adding an amusement park, swimming pool, and hotel. He invested over $250,000 into the development and changed the name to Rose Island. The 118 acre amusement park featured a Ferris wheel and a wooden roller coaster – named the Devil’s Backbone.
Rose also added a small zoo, which included wolves in a pen, a cage of monkeys, and the central and most famous figure: a black bear named Teddy Roosevelt. But the fun did not end there; Rose Park also offered a dance hall and ice rink, both with booming music. It was getting more popular by the year.
There were two ways to reach Rose Island. One was via a swinging wooden footbridge, 50 feet in length, and the other via a slower yet more scenic steamboat ride. There were several steamboats circulating the park waters. Their names were Steamer America, City of Cincinnati, Columbia, and Idlewild, which later became well-known as The Belle of Louisville.
Idlewild was built in 1914, in what was at the time a very modern design: an all-steel superstructure and asphalt main deck. It is said that the boat is the all-time record holder in her class for years of operation, miles traveled, and places visited. A ride on this exquisite vessel from Louisville to Rose Island would last between an hour-and-a-half and two hours and a ticket was only 50 cents.
The Great Depression hit many U.S. businesses hard, and Rose Island was not immune to its effects. However, the park finally went under, literally, with the great flood of 1937. The property was completely submerged, drowning under more than ten feet of water. The bridge was no more – only the steel support pylons on the shore remained – many trees fell and a great number of buildings were damaged.
The damage was too great to be fixed and there was not enough time to rebuild the park for the season of 1937. Rose Island never served as an amusement park again. The pool, being designed to hold water, was the only thing undamaged by the flood, and it remained in exceptional condition until 1989. After the flood, Rose Island became part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, and after several years of use for ammunition storage the park was transferred to Charlestown State Park to be utilized once more for recreational purposes.
Today, all that remains of the original amusement park are some traces of brick foundations and the old swimming pool. The State of Indiana has built a bridge to the Rose Island area for any visitors of the state park that might want to explore this piece of history. The site can still be accessed by boat, but sadly no steamboats have circled these waters for many years.