One hundred twenty-five years ago in 1898, taken directly from the pages of The Youngstown Vindicator:

“At the Park. Cool weather did not keep a big crowd away Sunday. Poor accommodations made so far to do away with the necessity of long walks.

“Mill Creek promises to be more popular this summer than ever before and the most popular place in it will most surely be the lake. Although the weather was cool Sunday and there was a good breeze going, the number of people who went out to the lake was indeed astonishing.

“The 12 rowboats were kept busy all day, from early in the morning, and expressions of delight were heard on every hand. Not a person who went out on the lake had anything but words of praise for the splendid boating. A straight line along the middle of the creek from the middle of the dam to the other end of the lake would be about a mile long but, like married life, it seems longer, and there are so many turns.

“The naphtha launch (Editor’s note: A naphtha is a small boat with a low-pressure naphtha boiler to power its engine and propeller, eliminating the risk of an explosion, as sometimes happened with steam boilers) could not be used Sunday and in consequence there was no little disappointment, but it will no doubt be ready for next Sunday.

“The dock for the launch is on the north side of the lake, just above the dam. It was supposed that the water by the dock was deep enough to accommodate the launch but it wasn’t and the rudder struck a stone there Saturday afternoon and was bent, so that the launch had to be tied up until the damage was repaired.

“It is safe to say that if the county commissioners have not been in disrepute with the voters up to this time for allowing their petty differences to interfere with the laying of a trolley line on the Market Street Bridge, they soon will be. A Vindicator reporter heard the county commissioners roundly damned more than once out at the park Sunday by people who have to rely on street cars for transportation, or walk.

“One trip to the park under present conditions is all that is necessary to turn the conviction of anybody who has been hesitating about being convinced of the infamous outrage that is being perpetrated by the commissioners in not allowing a trolley line to be placed on the new bridge. Not only men, but women with children walked a mile or more Sunday just to get into the park, and if the opposition of the county commissioners to a trolley line on the Market Street Bridge continues, the park-loving public might as well make up its mind now to face the unpleasantness of much walking during the summer.

“In most other cities, park accommodations on Sunday for the public is an uppermost feature, and the authorities who oppose it are kicked out of office without ceremony.”

• Compiled from the Youngstown Vindicator by Traci Manning, Mahoning Valley Historical Society curator of education.