More than 60 years ago, a local man who had a true entrepreneurial spirit and what absolutely had to be a love of music and the industry itself built a live music dance hall and roller skating rink in Camas.
What a sight it must have been nestled along the bank of the Washougal River. Constructed with sturdy fir logs and accented with a dramatic river rock fire place, wagon wheel chandeliers, shiny dance floor and main stage, Pat Mason’s Wagon Wheel Park opened to the public in 1948. For a decade, it served as a hub of social life and activities. Today, it’s fun to imagine how that building must have come to life each Saturday night as hundreds of people packed the venue to dance and listen to live music provided by the likes of Willie Nelson, Tex Ritter, Stan Kenton and George Bruns.
And the building continued to serve as a venue for local entertainment as it was transformed by new owners into a bowling alley that also became a place where memories were made.
After a story about some of the building’s early history and upcoming destruction ran in the March 6 edition of the Post-Record, many readers shared their own remembrances on the newspaper’s website.
