The White City had its share of deaths, scuffles and all out brawls, what with the clientele not as high-class as that of the Willow Grove Park goers who spent 30 cents to arrive at their destination as opposed to those who paid a dime to head towards The White City. As local writer/historian Thomas H. Keels, in a piece he wrote for The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, entitled The Wizard of the White City: Henry B. Auchy's Entertainment Empire, writes in his footnotes:

At rural amusement parks, clashes seemed to be inevitable between the homogenous native-born local population and the urban visitors, many of whom were immigrants. In Willow Grove in 1895-1896, Louis J. Zanine cites several articles from the Hatboro Public Spirit describing petty depredations of Italian park workers on local gardens and orchards, a racial fracas between black and white visitors, and several episodes of public drunkenness.

But the rowdiness was kept at a minimum, and to ensure that riff-raff be kept as far away as possible, Auchy instituted rules: men had to wear jackets and ties and women were expected to wear dresses and hats, despite the hot, muggy weather.

Chestnut Hill Park visitors not our kind of people.

No matter, after 13 years the elite of Chestnut Hill were tired of those they saw as undesirables in the Chestnut Hill area. A cadre of wealthy aristocrats came together to purchase the land from Auchy, offering him a deal he couldnt refuse.

George C. Thomas Jr., Charles N. Welsh, Wilson Potter and Jay Cook III purchased the property from Auchy for $500,000, and immediately pieces of the park were put up for sale: carousels, trains, coasters, organs, sheet music rocking chairs, ticket booths even the kitchen sinks (literally).

Writer/Historian David Contosta cites an article from the Germantown Telegraph in which the destroyers of the park were quoted as saying that The White City lowered the tone of the entire suburb; that is, depreciated the value of the land and that its existence kept desirable persons away from Chestnut Hill. Contosta continues in his own words: This was another example of a group of Chestnut Hillers using their wealth and influence to control development in or around their community. The men planned to use the park site to build high class houses. For unexplained reasons, these were never built. In 1923 the land was sold to Springfield Township, where the first Springfield High School was built. (The building still stands today as the Phil-Mont Christian Academy.)

One cant help but imagine what the park would have turned into a dilapidated, archaic ruin where vandals or drunks and high school kids would spray paint their names, or a historically preserved park where present-day Hillers could have a mini-getaway from the traffic of Germantown Avenue.

All we have today is a much-miniaturized version of the lake in what is now known as Hillcrest Park (originally called Yeakle's Pond), which is presently a drained, open dirty wound in the earth. The house where Mr. Auchy lived still stands; to area residents its known as the Yeakle-Wistar House, but was originally called Erden, German for Earth.

Theres also one remnant of the trolley line remaining as well. Every time you pass that old blue structure holding lumber, the one before you get to the Lukoil gas station, youre looking at the old trolley shed. But maybe as you visit these places now, you can imagine the fun and relaxation had by Philly area residents who needed just a little time away from the oppression of the hot city to dance in a clean, glowing wonderland.