Rouge Park

**9606 Prest** · April-13-12, 10:01 PM

Does anyone remember summer picnics or winter skating, playing hockey or sledding at Rouge Park? What years did you go to the park?

**Brich** · April-13-12, 10:11 PM

I wonder how many DYesers remember Scout's Hollow in Rouge Park. It was east of Outer Drive and north of Warren ave. If I remember correctly.

**Detroit_uke** · April-14-12, 09:22 AM

I remember all of that - and I also remember the pony rides and the concession stand....I went to the park between 1954 and the early 70's.......It used to be beautiful!!!

**Barbara_10** · April-14-12, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by 9606 Prest

Does anyone remember summer picnics or winter skating, playing hockey or sledding at Rouge Park? What years did you go to the park?

Many happy hours ice skating in Rouge Park in the 1950's.
I am 75 years old now, but I still have my 61 year old figure skates in my garage, just in case

**DetroitTeacher** · April-14-12, 07:24 PM

I was skating and sledding in Rouge Park during the 70s. Dad took us. Fond memories, indeed!

**DetroitPlanner** · April-14-12, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by Brich

I wonder how many DYesers remember Scout's Hollow in Rouge Park. It was east of Outer Drive and north of Warren ave. If I remember correctly.

Scout Hallow was off of Spinoza, either by Tireman or W Chicago.
I can remember all of the activities mentioned. I went with Pack 488. Who remembers the rock concerts of the late 60's/early 70's? I was just a little boy but they were so loud I could hear them a mile+ to the East! You can still ride horses there, and watch RC planes.

**Detroit_uke** · April-14-12, 08:31 PM

The planes...I forgot about the planes.....that was fun, DetroitPlanner...thanx for the memory!

**Wheels** · April-14-12, 10:10 PM

I don't ever remember being able to ride horses there but The Detroit Mounted Police Stable were there and they had a exercise merry-go-round they use to hook them up to there.

There was also a great dog taring field there for the Police Dogs that the would allow the public to use when they were not using it. I spent a lot of time there with a Malamute named Kye. Great dog.

All of that was just across the road from the Tobaggon slides and Ice Rink in the winter and where they had the Rock Concerts in the Summer of 69.

My earliest memories of Rouge were of Brennen Pools. In the late fifties the Boys Club on Ferris street in Highland Park would bus us all the way over there to go swimming. I think it cost 10 cents and I would have to collect pop bottles to get the money.

When we lived on Hazelton off Joy road just west of the park we could here th RC planes when they were flying them. We also heard a lot of real planes that used Rough Park to line up to Metro and flew low rite over our house.

My fondness memory of Rouge was when the Cub House from the Golf Course called our house on a Saturday morning and said they were detaining my 10 year old son and 2 of his friends. They asked me to come to pick them up because of vandalism. I was furious on the way there. When I arrived the grounds keeper explained to me they had three groups in a row come in and claim a hole in one on 16. Hole #16 is a par three across the river with a straight op banking about 30 feet high on the other side. The hole is only about 60 yards but you can't see the green at all. The kids were hiding in the bushes near the green and running over to put one of the balls in the hole before the groups to get up the hill to see anything. Apparently it was a older brother of one of the other 2 boys who put them up to it. I cooled down after hearing the crime and had a hard time not to laugh. I did have to give our a punishment but I kept it to a minimum.

**DetroitPlanner** · April-15-12, 09:30 AM

The ponies were off of Outer Drive near Tireman.

Who remembers these two buildings?
- The Coon house was a palatial farmhouse that was turned into a Rec Center. It was set far back from Warren Avenue, and located by the cannons at the end of Spinoza. The Coons were farmers and owned much of the land in the area. They also built a dealership that eventually became known as Coon Brothers AMC on Plymouth and Telegraph [[which eventually became part of Snethkamp).

- The City of Detroit operated a nature center in Rouge Park prior to the opening of the one on Belle Isle. It was located in the area aroun Outer Drive/ Outer Drive and W Chicago. [[One of these two Outer Drives is now called Rouge Park Drive). It too was in an old farmhouse that was painted red.

**DetroitPlanner** · April-15-12, 09:40 AM

the 16th Hole story is awesome. It also reminded me of another Rouge Park activity. Most of the boys from the neighborhood would go to golf school at the golf course. It was put on by PAL. I can also remember one Christmas it was very warm so my brother and I climbed the fence and played a few holes.

Later in High School we would climb the fence at Rogell, but that was because we would have bonfires in a place well hidden from the rest of the neighborhood.

**Lowell** · April-15-12, 09:47 AM

What a lovely long winding belt of wilderness and parklands that stretch along the Rouge in Detroit, Dearborn and beyond.

What is the status of the pool that appears to have everything need for an Olympic event? See it here.

Any of you westsiders ever swim or go to an event there. What a beautiful building too!

**Detroit_uke** · April-15-12, 10:13 AM

More memories...I remember an archery range and a shooting range...and I remember my mother and grandmother going mushroom hunting there......

**finster** · April-15-12, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

What a lovely long winding belt of wilderness and parklands that stretch along the Rouge in Detroit, Dearborn and beyond.

What is the status of the pool that appears to have everything need for an Olympic event? See it here.

Don't know its current status but I believe those pools were going to be used for the swimming and diving events for the Olympics when Detroit lost out three times in a row, finishing second or so all three times. Can you imagine how different 1967 could have been had everyones time been spent preparing for the 1968 Olympics? Boggles the mind.

Many years ago I stayed at the apartments at Schoolcraft and Outer Drive and would jog around the entire park, came to seven or eight miles I believe. Later on I lived in a house right across on Outer Drive by West Chicago. An excellent view to say the least. The park looks so run down now, makes me cry.

**EastsideAl** · April-15-12, 01:37 PM

The Rouge pools were, in fact, built for the 1948 U.S. Olympic swimming and diving trials. My mother, and her whole swim team from Cass Tech, took the bus out there from downtown for every day of those trials. She was able to meet future Olympic gold medal winning diver Dr. Sammy Lee there, who helped coach her by mail for a few years, and occasionally corresponds with her about the sport to this very day.

**Barbara_10** · April-15-12, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

What a lovely long winding belt of wilderness and parklands that stretch along the Rouge in Detroit, Dearborn and beyond.

What is the status of the pool that appears to have everything need for an Olympic event? See it here.

Any of you westsiders ever swim or go to an event there. What a beautiful building too!

I went swimming there many times. It wasn't Brennen pools at the time. Just called Rouge pools.
It was the end of the Detroit bus route.
I lived in the Plymouth/Schaefer area.