Ah, the old days

[therising]

Is anyone here old enough to remember when Lancaster was a beach town?

[therising]

Anyone know where this was?

[mesue]

Anyone know where this was?

Clark Street?

[gorja]

Originally posted by therising:
Is anyone here old enough to remember when Lancaster was a beach town?

I grew up in Clarence but I remember Willow Beach in Lancaster in the 50's and 60's. That's where I learned to swim.

[Wag]

Willow Beach, yes! Of course Willow Beach will never reopen, it's a private home community. Rumors were, it closed cause the water was polluted. Course, in the ole days it was cleaner than the creeks, and we used to swim in them too.

Anyone know why it really closed?

[Lee Chowaniec]

Willow Beach

I remember swimming in Willow Beach numerous times years ago. I do not remember the Lake ever being anywhere near that large. The photographs exaggerate the size of this Lake, if indeed the photographs were depicting Willow Beach.

The beach was closed because the water was polluted. Wasn't it an artificial lake caused by the adjacent quarry operation?

I know of no other beach site that existed in Lancaster in the past.

[Save Us]

Your whimsical thoughts of melancholic yearning for the sparse, rustic, bucolic WNY will be materialized as more people leave for other areas.

Lancaster however will continue to sprawl

[therising]

Where was Willow Beach?

[justKel]

Looks like the size of Lake Erie in that postcard!

[gorja]

Originally posted by therising:
Where was Willow Beach?

Pavement Rd and Nichter rd where the patio homes are now.

[mesue]

Mabry Mill in VA is on many "Welcome to ..." postcards in the USA. I have been there, it's beautiful. Could be that Lancaster did the same thing except used a beach scene.

[JustRetired]

What I remember about Willow Beach is the great hot dogs from the concession stand and the nagging aquatic plants. 6 to 8 inch pieces of this plant floating all over. I remember seeing the attendants in the water with the rubber raft floats, piling the weeds on the raft and bringing them to shore. This was probably circa 1960ish, OMG I'm getting old....lol

[therising]

That's all very interesting; I never knew there was an actual beach there. Although, I have heard that the formation of the lake was an accident - miners accidentally tapped into an underground spring, or something?

[Patti]

We are one of the homeowners who now live on what used to be Willow Beach in Lancaster and we would love some photos of people swimming in it. I've heard a lot about families coming to swim there, but no one we've talked to has any photos. If anyone has any photos from that time, we would like to see them. Please send them to sheylinn1963@aol.com. Thanks.

[mikenold]

That's all very interesting; I never knew there was an actual beach there. Although, I have heard that the formation of the lake was an accident - miners accidentally tapped into an underground spring, or something?

Actually the lake formed by mining operations was right next door at the quarry. This was much deeper than Willow beach. Great Pike fishing but no Bass. Willow had both pike and a great number of Bass. I used to love going there to fish. Willow beach was open for swimming for many years until the insurance premiums became too much to make it a viable enterprise (thank you NYS for the closing of another business venture). Now Willow beach is home to a bunch of condo's with docks on the lake. I hope the fishing is as good as it was years ago.