Throwback Thursday: Beech Bend Park exhibit at Helm Commons

As we head into spring season, we’re revisiting a place we’ve told many stories about. Beech Bend Park has been part of this area’s history for over 100 years, and it’s got a storied past. Maybe it’s a childhood ride, a summer swim, a drag race, or a first job, but for more than a century, Beech Bend Park has been part of the rhythm of life here,  and now a new exhibit at Western Kentucky University’s Helm Commons is helping preserve and share that story.

A new exhibit called “Beech Bend Park: Then & Now” invites visitors to step through the many eras of one of Bowling Green’s most beloved landmarks. Beech Bend first opened as simple picnic grounds back in 1898, with a small amusement park ideal for summertime escapes from the “big city.” But it truly came to life in the 1940s, when local entrepreneur Charles Garvin transformed it into a regional entertainment destination.

From rides and midway games to track racing and swimming, Beech Bend became a place where generations of families gathered, weaving the park into the shared memories and identity of this community. This new exhibit was curated by Emma Newton, the exhibits coordinator for WKU’s Special Collections Library, and it’s been nearly two years in the making.

But the goal of the project goes beyond simply telling the park’s story. Newton says many WKU students come from outside Warren County and may spend most of their time on campus. Exhibits like this are meant to connect them with the community around them, helping students discover local history, explore the city, and feel more at home in Bowling Green.

One surprising chapter highlighted in the exhibit is something many people today may not remember: the park once had its own zoo. While the zoo has long disappeared, we have mentioned it a few times here and its story survives through photographs and preserved artifacts inside the archives.

Items like old tickets, brochures, and promotional flyers —what historians call ephemera — were originally meant to be temporary. But today they offer a rare window into how visitors once experienced the park. Most of the images we share from the WKU Special Collections Library are digitized ephemera.

Behind the scenes, the exhibit has also become a hands-on classroom for WKU students. Student workers have helped digitize materials, preserve historic items, and even assist with exhibit design. Through the process they gained real-world experience in research, archival preservation, and storytelling, as skills that translate into careers in museums, libraries, and beyond.

Charles Garvin’s perseverance and creativity turned a small local attraction into a lasting part of Bowling Green’s culture and reminder of what determination and hard work can accomplish. While the park continues to evolve, the memories it created and stories preserved in the archives remain part of what makes Bowling Green special.

The exhibit is open at Helm Commons.