A Gretna Gathering Place: From Dancing to Roller Hockey
- Margaret Hopkins
- Jan 18
- 3 min read
by Margaret Hopkins
[Originally published in the Winter 2026 issue of Mount Gretna Magazine. View the full issue to see this story in its designed layout, complete with additional images.]
The history of the Mount Gretna Roller Rink offers a glimpse into the popular pastimes of the 19th and 20th centuries. Dancing, moving pictures, and roller hockey all took place in the only building remaining from Mount Gretna Park.
Robert H. Coleman created the park in 1884 as a stop on his Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad. Initially a picnic grove, the space evolved into a park with dining halls, playing fields, and pavilions for dancing. In 1890, when Robert was asked to host a weeklong farmers’ encampment with machinery and livestock, he agreed. Within months, 30 acres of woodland were cleared, and 110,000 square feet of platforms were constructed.
Robert also had a “mammoth auditorium” built that could accommodate between 3,500 and 5,000 people, according to news reports from that time. The roofed but open-air auditorium eventually became the encampment’s exhibition hall, featuring horticultural and floricultural displays, along with items ranging from sewing machines to organs.
Whether the building was used for other events is unknown, though Coleman offered it in August 1892 to the Mount Gretna Campmeeting for worship services.
When Ferdinand Gremminger bought Mount Gretna Park in 1917, he added new flooring to the auditorium to introduce the “popular sport” of roller skating. For the next 10 years, the building hosted skating, boxing exhibitions, and nightly dancing to music by “Loser’s Xylophone Orchestra” or Prof. Sourbeer’s seven-piece orchestra or full orchestra.
“Moving pictures” were shown in what news articles called the “apartment,” but it’s unknown where this “apartment” was located.
In 1926, the building underwent another round of renovations. Advertisements for the park’s grand opening highlighted roller skating in the now-named Coliseum Building, which featured 300 pairs of “chic” roller skates, a Wurlitzer organ, a gentlemen’s smoking room, and a refreshment stand. Each night featured different moving pictures — “See You in Jail” and “Sensation Seekers” were two titles — with 25-cent admission for adults and a penny for children.
Park advertisements promised that the Coliseum offered “everything you need to have a good time without leaving the building.”
Roller hockey came to the renamed Mount Gretna Auditorium Rink in late 1930. The Mount Gretna Tigers played in the Western Division of the Eastern Roller Hockey League and won the Tri-State Championship in 1939. In 1941, the Tigers were considered “one of the outstanding amateur roller hockey teams in the eastern section of the U.S.,” according to the “Lebanon Daily News.” When the league revised rink specifications to exclude posts — they hold up the building’s roof — roller hockey had to find a new home.
From the outside, the Mount Gretna Roller Rink today looks much the same as in the past, and roller skating remains a popular pastime for families, school groups, and parties. Eunice and Brian Heist, who skated there when they were growing up and who bought the business in 2018, appreciate the rink’s history and have added photos and memorabilia to document its past.
“Skating is something every age can do,” Brian says. “Your grandparents did it, your parents did it, and now you can do it.”
Margaret Hopkins is a fourth-generation member and full-time resident of the Mount Gretna Campmeeting Association. She enjoys learning about Mount Gretna’s history and has written stories for the Mount Gretna Area Historical Society newsletters.
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Our additional thanks to the Mount Gretna Area Historical Society (MGAHS) for providing resources for this story and other parts of our Winter 2026 issue. Learn more about MGAHS and its offerings at MtGretnaHistory.org.
