Random Thoughts from a Random Memory

By Edward Master

Swimming in the Clarion River at the Grass Flats maybe ranks as a rite of passage, especially before the bridge was torn down. The Grass Flats even offered a pleasant vista to enjoy the submarine races at night.

I guess my earliest memory of the Grass Flats bridge though was a car trip across the bridge when it was in use, probably back in the 1950s. One evening Dad decided to take us for a ride. No ice cream; no nothing; just a ride. We ended up in the Perryville/West Freedom area.

The road trip brought us to the south end of the Grass Flats bridge that spanned the Clarion River. The road to the river as well as the bridge was anything but smooth--rocky and full of ruts. No wonder the highway department welded iron rails across each end and shut the bridge off from traffic. I was nervous the whole short trip across wooden planks.

As age creeped up on me, I learned that there were two access roads on the north side of the bridge--one from East Foxburg at the railroad tracks and one from the middle of St. Petersburg across from the Pines Inn, down the street, down to the Clarion River

We started hitching rides and walking to the river from Turkey City, since we had outgrown Mickey. The bulldozing of the creek (Turkey Run) sealed the deal. On one of those walks back up the hill from the river into St. Petersburg I spied a carving on a tree. The carving read “Tom Leavy,” who later had a career teaching earth science and geography at California and Clarion Universities of Pennsylvania. Tom probably did his handiwork in the early 1950s, since he was a Turkey City native.

I never had the inclination to repeat that artwork. Tom retired from teaching to a retirement community near State College. I have no idea of any swimming holes in that area.

In its own right, the Grass Flats was a unique swimming experience. The name was easy to determine by the wide grassy expanse on the north side of the river. There was ample room for a few cars in which to park by the bridge. I probably saw a peak of maybe four vehicles at a time on the St. Pete side. One side attraction was the trapeze hanging closer to the Perryville side. Every now and then a classmate would come to sun and swim, and every now and then someone would jump from the bridge. Sue Rose liked to make the rocky road trip from Perryville/West Freedom to soak up some rays and was a 1967 classmate.

Nancy Landers, another classmate, had the dubious luck of living about a 10- to 15-minute stroll down and then back up the hill. Nancy put in quite a few shifts in the Clarion waters on warm summer days.

As I got older, the Grass Flats became a social gathering spot especially on summer weekends. Somehow a case of liquid refreshment often arrived with weekend conversation and relaxation. I will say that trash never accumulate around the bridge. Trash always seemed to get picked up. That picnic spot called Sandy Creek up by Rockland was a haven always in need of cleanup.

The Grass Flats will go down as a milestone in past history. I heard a story about a drowning off the bridge as one reason for the bridge being removed. I can’t say that was ever verified.

We had swimmers from throughout the local area. I remember one summer two sisters from above Turkey City in Monroe were visiting relatives. They stayed at the top of the Johnson HILL. They showed up at the Grass Flats for a dip. Don’t recall where they hailed from nor their names.

The days of swimming are numbered at the Grass Flats. No more swinging and jumping off the trapeze/cable are gone. No more jumping off the bridge. No more nighttime submarine races. Just no more.