Dr. PA - Murder Swamp

When I was in high school, I lived about 40 minutes from New Castle.

New Castle is over in Lawrence County.

In fact, it's the county seat.

It has a pretty interesting history, especially when it comes to being the birthplace of an American movie industry that would, in quick order, relocate to Southern California.

The Warner Brothers first theater is there.

I didn't know that back then.

People didn't mention, and probably didn't know much about it themselves.

It's only been the past few years that this has become a topic of discussion, at least locally.

The only thing I knew about New Castle as a kid was that there was an ice rink out there.

The ice rink went through two distinct periods, and both were awful.

When I first started playing hockey, it was an outdoor rink with a chain link fence instead of glass, and we would try to ride opposing players' faces into the posts that held up said fence.

After a while, they put a roof over the outdoor rink and tried to make it more normal.

Plus, the hockey season could be more regular, as I remember a strangely warm day one February where the ice melted and the game was canceled.

Unfortunately, the architects involved had never considered proper dimensions for an adequate locker room.

The locker rooms were smaller than my bedroom.

This resulted in many blue fingers and toes, as most of us would have to get dressed in the car before going inside, only to put on skates.

I haven't been to the rink in more than a decade.

I hope it's better now, you know, like the third time being a charm

charmThe only other thing I knew about New Castle was that it was a good place to dump bodies, at least if jokes are to be believed.

When I was in high school, I lived about 40 minutes from New Castle.

New Castle is over in Lawrence County.

In fact, it's the county seat.

It has a pretty interesting history, especially when it comes to being the birthplace of an American movie industry that would, in quick order, relocate to Southern California.

The Warner Brothers first theater is there.

I didn't know that back then.

People didn't mention, and probably didn't know much about it themselves.

It's only been the past few years that this has become a topic of discussion, at least locally.

The only thing I knew about New Castle as a kid was that there was an ice rink out there.

The ice rink went through two distinct periods, and both were awful.

When I first started playing hockey, it was an outdoor rink with a chain link fence instead of glass, and we would try to ride opposing players' faces into the posts that held up said fence.

After a while, they put a roof over the outdoor rink and tried to make it more normal.

Plus, the hockey season could be more regular, as I remember a strangely warm day one February where the ice melted and the game was canceled.

Unfortunately, the architects involved had never considered proper dimensions for an adequate locker room.

The locker rooms were smaller than my bedroom.

This resulted in many blue fingers and toes, as most of us would have to get dressed in the car before going inside, only to put on skates.

I haven't been to the rink in more than a decade.

I hope it's better now, you know, like the third time being a charm

charmThe only other thing I knew about New Castle was that it was a good place to dump bodies, at least if jokes are to be believed.