Well Roger and all, I guess the proverbial Cat's out the Bag concerning "Greenwreath Park" and whatever other name this notorious party spot may have gone by while it operated, which was for most of the 20th century right on up thru the 1960's I have heard... maybe even a little later in some decrepit fashion or another. I have hazy childhood memories of a sign on the Falkland Hwy by the dirt road to the place that said "JJJ Club," which I was told was a thinly-veiled reference to KKK meetings that were held there at the time(1960's). At that time, we kids were of course told to stay away from the place, and you better believe I did. Racial tension was bad enough every day at school, and my role was much more peace-maker than agitator. The only playmates I had in my childhood were black and I saw no problem with trying to bridge the old and archaic b/w social system by educating ourselves together. I had one heckuva hard time understanding what the trouble was all about... police in riot gear having to patrol our high school halls and fights breaking out every day. The racial problems at high school tainted my perception of the place where I grew up and bothers me to this day. But back to Greenwreath Park... some 5-10 years ago (can't remember exactly but it's been within the last decade), I found my self driving by the place with a little bit of time on my hands, and was suddenly overcome by curiosity to see what it looked like. I knew where to walk to from an aerial photo I'd seen, because the old spring pond was still there and someone told me the clubouse overlooked it. It was built on an unusually steep hillside for Pitt County terrain. The pond was swampy and had mostly filled in. The old clubhouse was crumbling and dangerous even to step inside. Some profane graffiti was on the walls and it appeared to have been last occupied by vagrants. I doubt it is anything more than a pile of rotted wood today. Roger mentioned Nelson "Nep" Hopkins, who was arguably the most famous black man of Pitt County in his day, the mid-1900's. Pitt County Chronicles Vol. I includes a writeup about him. His cooking skills were known far and wide, and besides that he had an engaging personality and love for people that made him likeable to just about everyone who came in contact with him -- who were mostly the "respectable" white establishment. Thru one means or another, ol' Nep accumulated a lot of money, and was never shy to show it as he carried around a big roll of cash. As one might expect, he also had an entourage who served as his protection as long as they got their share. Andrew, I'm sure that my father, who passed in '93, and Uncle Alf Forbes, who passed in the 80's, could have told you a lot about Greenwreath Park except for one pesky problem -they were bound by utmost secrecy. They were both fairly notorious for sewing wild oats in the 1930's of their youth. Pitt County was a relatively prosperous place even during that decade, because its economny was based on the Depression-proof tobacco weed. And its bootleg liquor flowed hard & heavy throughout the Prohibition. No doubt those were mighty heady times for Greenwreath Park! Bob Forbes [email protected] Original Message: ----------------- From: Roger E. Kammerer [email protected] Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:45:35 +0000 To: [email protected] Subject: [NC-PCFR] Greenwreath Park Dear Mr. Kahrl, >Mrs. Liz Sparrow of the Pitt County Historical Society sent me your query. >I only have a few newspaper items on Greenwreath Park. It opened about June >1, 1925. It was quite the place for many years. It had dances; an artesian >well pool and swimming in the river. It eventually became the place where >gambling, prostitution and drinking was the amusement. It was said the best >known men in Greenville got their "groove on" there even though they were >married. Local companies and Greenville and Pitt County officials had their >parties there.The police left it alone for many years, since they were >corrupt too. I was told that it was raided several times, but someone >informed them ahead of time. In the 1940's, it was run by Nelson Hopkins, a >famous and likably notorious black man. It was said he was quite a cook and >he catered all the local parties for "big wigs." When he had the >Greenwreath Park it was locally known as the "Tavern on the Tar, in the >principality of Bruce." It was eventually closed down and sits in >devastating ruin now. I know of no other records of Greenwreath Park other >than the newspaper. You would have to interview alot of the old residents >in the Falkland community to get first person accounts. I hope this helps, >Roger Kammerer >"Andrew W. Kahrl" <[email protected]> wrote: > Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 15:15:42 -0400 >From: "Andrew W. Kahrl" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Subject: research query > >Dear Ms. Sparrow, > >I am a PhD candidate in history at Indiana University. I am seeking >any information on the history of Green Wreath Farm in Pitt County. I >am particularly interested in anything related to an amusement park >that was there in the 1920s. I am planning a trip to the area in >August and would like to study any archival materials that might be >available on this place and its history. I look forward to hearing >from you at your convenience. > >All the best, >Andrew W. Kahrl > >Editorial Assistant >Journal of American History >1215 E. Atwater Avenue >Bloomington, IN 47401 USA >Tel. 812-855-2816 >Fax 812-855-9939 > ==== NC-PCFR Mailing List ==== Post to this mail list at: [email protected] Visit the PCFR website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncpcfr Browse our rich collection of old family photographs, private documents, and public records. ============================== View and search Historical Newspapers. Read about your ancestors, find marriage announcements and more. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13969/rd.ashx -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .