Businesses Past...

Taneytown’s Rainbow Roller Rink

by Richard D. L. Fulton

Taneytown’s Rainbow Roller Rink, located in Big Pipe Creek Park in Taneytown, was in operation from 1940 until eventually closing its doors sometime in the 1970s.

The building that housed the rink was specifically located at 3939 Old Taneytown Road. The address of the site is sometimes given as having been 3939 and/or 3959 Old Taneytown Road.

The rink was originally owned by George W. and Marlin E. Shriver, and managed by John, Edna, and Mary Smith, according to forgottenrollerrinksofthepast.com. An advertisement published in the July 31, 1940, edition of The (Hanover) Evening Sun identified the “floor manager” as having been Archie H. Feeser.

The Shrivers were involved in the development of Big Pipe Creek Park—the location of the rink—which they began development of in 1936, according to the Maryland Historical Trust. The Shrivers envisioned that the park would ideally serve as a high-class summer resort, so they continued to add on features, such as rental cabins.

In 1939, they opened the Rainbow Restaurant, and in 1940, they erected the structure that would house the Rainbow Roller Rink (also known as the Rainbow Skating Rink) at a cost of $12,200. The Shrivers then held their grand opening of the rink on August 1, 1940, billing itself as “Maryland’s newest and most modern roller rink.”

According to the Maryland Historical Trust, the skating rink was located on the main level of the building, while a bowling alley was located on the lower level, although it seems that the bowling alleys did not appear in advertisements until 1942, in which an advertisement was published under the heading, “For Health’s Sake, Learn to Skate and Bowl,” further noting that the bowling alleys—featuring ten-pins and duckpins—were open “every evening except Sunday (with skating held every night).”

Based on a description provided in an auction advertisement when the property was listed for sale in 1980, the rink building size was given as having been 75 feet by 150 feet and contained a five-bedroom apartment, an eight-lane bowling alley on the lower level, a large open area on the second level (which had been used as a skating rink and dance hall) with restrooms for men and women, and storage areas.

The skating rink building suffered some severe damage on June 26, 1951, when a truck struck a vehicle and then struck the building, “piercing” the structure and “hurling cement blocks some distance,” according to an article in the June 28 The (Frederick) News. The article also reported that the bowling alleys had been damaged as well. The driver of the truck was fined $10.00 and court costs for reckless driving.

The rink continued to serve its patrons, even by adding on special band events and hockey/roller skate competitions until the end came in 1972 in the form of a hurricane.

The building that had housed the rink had been so badly damaged in 1972 by Hurricane Agnes (along with various others in the park site) that the roller rink was finally closed in 1975, according to the Maryland Historical Trust.

Sometime prior to February 1978, the roller rink was sold by George Shriver’s widow. Under the new ownership of David Campbell, the former rink became a dance hall, dubbed Noah’s Ark. 

In the wake of the murder of a patron, the Ark was ordered closed in February 1978 until it was agreed that it could re-open as a private club (to help control patrons allowed in and oversee illegal drug and alcohol use), commencing in April 1978. By July 1978, the enterprise was re-named as the (privately owned) Showcase Night Club.

At some time during or before November 1980, George Shriver’s widow re-purchased the property. She re-opened the rink in 1981 as the Rainbow Farm and Home Center that, apparently, conducted business up until the late 1990s or early 2000 timeframe.

Following the cessation of the Rainbow Farm and Home business, several other businesses began operating out of the old rink building, and continue to do so, to date.

Taneytown’s Rainbow Roller Rink in Big Pipe Creek Park in Taneytown.