Pine Castle Historical Markers - part 2

PLEASURE BEACH

Wallace Road was named by Pine Castle founder Will Wallace Harney for his mother’s family. The point where the road dead-ends at Lake Conway became known as “Pleasure Beach,” and was a popular gathering place for area residents, especially in the 1920s. Church, school, and family picnics were held on the shore, and the Union Church used the lake water for baptisms. There was a long dock containing park-like benches and at the end, low and high diving boards and a water slide. Canoes were available for rides around the lake.

The nearby pavilion contained a bath house on the first floor and a place for dancing and skating upstairs. Slot machines were installed, drawing people from as far away as Windermere and Apopka to gamble. The pavilion burned in the late 1920s, but the dock and beach continued to be used by the public. In the 1940s, a family built a home on the property and closed the beach to the public.