Haunting memories from the past: Spooky Springs

Johnny Preston and Karen Story look over a collection of photos of Spooky Springs and some of the people who went there. --submitted photos

"Grandpa was cutting sprouts in the pasture in 1934, and he got hot. He went to the spring for a drink. He had a chopping ax and while he was resting, he started hacking on one of the bluffs and carved a face," Johnny Preston explained. "After he got started, it kind of escalated."

Before he finished in 1957, John Preston created a pair of lions, an angel on the bluff, a little boy with a donation can, a bathing beauty, a statue of liberty, two figures of Abraham Lincoln -- one a larger statue, and the other with two faces; one with his beard and one without -- one of George Washington, a pair of Indians, a child and nanny, an owl, and a possum, and many other statues. Preston worked his way round the small valley with a chopping axe, hammer and cold chisel until he had created figures all around the natural rock swimming pool. John Preston had no formal training, and all the statues were cut with a hammer and cold chisel. It's amazing that such delicate work could be done with such crude tools.

Johnny Preston recalled walking up and down the creeks for a week with his grandpa, searching for just the right rock for what turned out to be his last statue. He wanted limestone without any iron streaks. Sometimes the shape of a rock gave him the idea of what to make.

He built the swimming pool where the valley dropped off. He dug it by hand, and lined the walls with sandstone and plastered them. That is the only thing he ever charged for and it cost 10 cents. The pool was spring-fed, and he drilled into the rocks and put in a pipe. "The spring ran five gallons a minute," Johnny Preston said.

The pool was about 25-by-75 feet, with a depth beginning at 6 inches and deepening to five feet.

Spooky Springs wasn't all about the dark side of life; a bust of Jesus was among the carved treasures that filled the amusement area. The bust was carved from one stone and now belongs to Karen Story. Carvings of angels, animals and happy children also were among the items depicted.

"Grandpa dug a ditch around the pool so it wouldn't get mud in it. Since I spent every summer with my grandparents when I was growing up, I remember many a time a storm would come up and he would put on an old slicker and walk the half mile to the park where he put up a board to divert the muddy water from the pool."

"It was ice cold," granddaughter, Karen (Preston) Story said. "Probably the coldest water anybody ever swam in."

"It was good drinking water, too," Johnny Preston said. "Grandpa kept a can by it so we could drink it."

People carved in stone take a nap on a bed, also carved of stone. --submitted photos

Preston carved a life-sized bathing beauty at the entrance to the pool. It was a favorite for visitors to take pictures beside it. He made a merry-go-round out of a hay rake wheel that was about 5 feet in diameter. He made it low to the ground so the little kids could play on it. For the older children, he created another merry-go-round using an old car axle, a plank and two cultivator seats. Preston also installed a teeter-totter, nearly 20 feet long.

Even before the park was constructed, the Preston home was a gathering place for the neighborhood. They owned a piano and neighbors came to have music. Preston played the piano, fiddle, organ, mandolin, banjo, and guitar. He also made fiddles and mandolins by hand. He was quite a whittler and carpenter and made dressers for most of his granddaughters.

The farmstead was settled by the Preston family in 1876.

Images of Abraham Lincoln were a favorite theme. There was one with a beard and one without.

John Preston was born in the farm house in 1880. He lived there all his life and farmed the land.

What began as an expression of a talented man became a unique place for people to have their annual Sunday school picnic, reunion, festivals, and music shows. One of the largest events held at Spooky Springs was a series of balloon lifts. Large paper balloons were filled with hot air from a fire. The first ascension on June 29, 1941, fizzled and led to a disappointed group. The event was not a total loss, however; the crowd of about 200 people enjoyed the acrobatic stunts of Lloyd Huff, a local comedian and performer. A second lift, five weeks later, was successful. One of the 10-foot-diameter balloons traveled almost 35 miles to Greenfield.

The park also was used for baptizing, and Fourth of July and Memorial Day celebrations. Between June 9, and Aug. 29, 1940, there were approximately 1,000 visitors to Spooky Springs Park. Guest registers revealed thousands of names from all of the states and even a few people from foreign countries.

For the most part, Spooky Spring was the only source of recreation in the area. It provided people with an inexpensive, clean and safe form of entertainment thanks to a lot of work and effort provided by John Preston, and created a sense of community.

In the bright sunlight, the figures were enjoyable, but in the dark with just a glint of moonlight shining off them, the area seemed spooky. Add that along with the eerie hoot of a night owl and the hair-raising howl of a coyote, the place was even spookier. That is how it earned the name of Spooky Springs.

Even in daylight, the stone figure of the devil, or the skeleton with its stone rifle lying nearby is enough to give the passer-by goose bumps.

However, a trip to Spooky Springs on Halloween will not be possible as Preston died in 1957 and the family was not able to maintain the park. It was sold and no longer accessible to the public.

Only three of the statues are known to be in existence and they are with the grandchildren, Johnny Preston, Karen Story and Yvonne Null.

Spooky Springs still exists in the minds of those who went there, however. I went with my first grade class in 1945 and it made such an impression on me that that I remember it still today.

Gary Headley of Nevada recalled it also as he took a trip with Star School to visit it, as did many others. The grandchildren certainly remember as do numerous others. Preston's legacy lingers on.