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