The only thing more note worthy than the sheer oddity of combined entertainment is Beech Bend’ s longevity. Amazingly, this scenic piece of property has been entertaining the community in some form or fashion since 1898, when Beech Bend Park opened with just two very simple product offerings: a swimming hole in the river and pony rides. Eventually, a large swimming pool replaced the time-honored practice of leaping into the Barren River, and later a roller skating rink was added, followed by a dance hall and bowling alley.

Many of the early attractions have come and gone as people’ s interests changed, and let’ s face it; they’ ve changed a lot in the 119 years of the park’ s existence! Details are often sketchy on the exact timeline of Beech Bend’ s renovations, but things really began to change in the 1940s when Charles Garvin bought the facility and began adding a vast array of carnival-type rides which would become Beech Bend’ s amusement park. The heyday of the park was believed to be in the 1960s, back when gate admission reportedly cost just 10 cents.

The first motorsport to take place at Beech Bend Park can be traced all the way back to 1949, when a motorcycle race was held on the facility’ s newly constructed dirt oval. A few years later, when organized drag racing began to sweep the nation in the 1950s, Beech Bend was quick to add a dirt drag strip to the sprawling facility. Drag racing at Beech Bend was quite primitive in the early years and Dallas Jones, who’ s owned the track since 1984,

was a racer himself during that time frame and experienced those early days first hand.“ We’ d change tires when it rained, and it was muddy as all get out,” he laughingly recalls.

Eventually, the track was paved and even repositioned within the park, with work wrapped up on it in 1973, according to Jones. When the late‘ 70s rolled around, though, the entire Beech Bend facility went into a state of decline— including the drag strip— as then-owner Garvin’ s health began to fail. After Garvin passed away in 1979, the facility actually closed for a short period. It briefly reopened under an ownership group that included country music singer Ronnie Milsap, but it was a short-lived endeavor and the park’ s future remained in serious jeopardy.

That’ s when Jones entered the

picture; this time as a potential buyer of the facility. By then, ownership of Beech Bend Park once again belonged to the Garvin heirs, and his son, David, wanted very much for Jones to own the track.“ David told me that it would have pleased his father very much if I owned this track, so David saw to it that a business loan was obtained for the drag strip and 105 acres,” Jones says. The following year, Jones held the most heavily attended event the track has ever seen, when 655 race

cars poured though the gates for the 1985 NHRA Sports Nationals.

Beech Bend has hosted many more big events in the 33 years that Jones has owned the track, and early one morning this November I had the great pleasure of sitting down with him in the tower and hearing about his passion for all things racing. At 76 years of age, Jones still has the fire and desire to keep the track going, though his grandson, Broc Porter, also provides a great deal of help these days.“ I’ ve slowed down some and Broc takes care of things for me,” Jones says with a smile.

It seems like everything at Beech Bend has a unique story behind it and I couldn’ t help but notice the vintage wooden seats up in the grandstands.“ Those seats were here when I bought the place back

in 1984,” Jones recalls.“ They tell me they came out of a baseball stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.” Then there’ s the story of the legendary flood of 2010 that nearly washed the entire track away! The aforementioned Barren River, which runs alongside the track, sometimes rises with heavy rainfall and during a particular stretch seven years ago it reached catastrophic levels. The track completely disappeared under water, with the second story of the tower flooded, the upper tip of the

bleachers barely visible and the concession stand actually floated away!

“ We broke a 73-year record for rain fall,” Jones exclaims. Clean up afterwards required a massive effort, but eventually he and the diligent Beech Bend crew got the track operational again.“ Every now and then we still find mud on something and we just laugh and say,‘ Yep, it’ s from the flood of 2010,” he chuckles at the memory.

When Jones bought the track more than three decades ago, the once-thriving little amusement park on the property had been shut down for years. All that remained as proof of its past was a pile of dilapidated junk barely visible beneath tall weeds. Initially, Jones bought only the drag strip, while the amusement park sat eerily desolate. However, after a few years, when the drag strip was once again thriving, he made a successful bid to purchase the amusement park, too. Jones says renovations cost a small fortune, but the amusement park eventually reopened with 43 attractions, among them a vintage wooden roller coaster, water park, petting zoo, swings, bumper cars, restaurant, and a haunted house. For a touch of nostalgia, Jones even has one of the original park signs from 1898 on display. These days, while the amusement park in operation from Memorial Day to Labor Day, racers will sometimes turn their kids loose there while they spend the day drag racing.

The Beech Bend drag strip season is several months longer, and though the park was closed when I stopped by, Jones gave me a fascinating tour by way of golf cart. As we slowly taxied past each carnival ride, I’ d usually inquire,“ Sir, have you ever ridden this one?” His answer each and every time was,“ Many times!” so I think it’ s safe to say Dallas Jones is a charter member of the“ Young at Heart” club.

I noticed that Beech Bend Park’ s website describes the facility as“ one of a kind,” and while many things get exaggerated in life, my experience there tells me this is one claim that’ s rock solid! DI