Did you play on one of these?
Posted by coloradotaxguy@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 552 comments
They don't make them like this anymore.
Posted by coloradotaxguy@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 552 comments
They don't make them like this anymore.
2PM2@reddit
I grew up from 1-11 in Michigan and all we had was metal slides, wings and maybe one of them metal cage rockets if you were kool. then moved to upstate Illinois. They had one there and I remember thinking what the F is that! But got to watch it for sprinters.
NeverEndingCoralMaze@reddit
Our rocket perpetually smelled of piss.
marcos_MN@reddit
Oh we had one of the cage rockets with a huge slide on it! Another nearby park had a unique version that looked like a robot with tube slides for arms.
Due_Ad4133@reddit
Oh, hey, we had one of those too. It even had a huge ramp leading to the top that also kinda doubled as a second slide because the sheet metal was smooth enough to slide back down.
The park it was at had a major renovation about a decade ago, and it got a brand new Rocket that's probably also a lot safer.
They didn't get rid of the old rocket though. They had the local metal shop refurbish it and then mounted it on top of a pole as a monument.
It's a great park. The only downside is that it is literally right next to the interstate with only a row of trees between.
2PM2@reddit
Yeah I don’t recall ours having slides. Maybe streaming wheel at the top floor.
marcos_MN@reddit
Oh, the slide was incredibly dangerous, in retrospect. I’m sure it was removed at one point.
But I do have a vivid memories of being there with my older cousin, who told me not to use the slides because kids would piss down them; later I remember going up to the top when I was middle school age to smoke clove cigarettes and horseshit weed from a Coke can.
Good times.
Blazenkks@reddit
I went to Burning Man a fundraiser party in like 2011. And one of things at the best race I’ve ever been to was a playground thing. Kinda like the rocket. But. More like the old McDonalds Hamburgler Jail playground thing.
Was like a metal cylinder that was idk 15-20 feet tall. That had a cut out opening with a ladder rungs up to the top. And at the top was a hamburger like dome, that you could sit in. It had like caged bars so you couldn’t fall out. It was a pretty big dome at the top like 5-6 adults could comfortably hangout. And definitely fabricated to fit adults and newish, not 40 year old Rusty death trap.
Definitely brought me back to play ground days. Met some cool ass people and smoked DMT in the top of that thing as the sun rose. 🤯.
marcos_MN@reddit
I have a similar story.
Well, okay. Not that similar. I just also did DMT at a festival.
I guess it’s not even a unique story. I kinda feel like I probably didn’t need to type this out. But that’s probably just the indica talking.
Blazenkks@reddit
😆
TanneriteAlright@reddit
Yeah, we had a couple i played on in northern Illinois as a kid. We had one in Rochelle, I think there's one in DeKalb and Rockford as well.
jok3ony0u@reddit
These wooden ones are in Michigan too! I got stabbed by splinters and bled dangerously on my wrists.
dan-lash@reddit
I’m from Michigan, they had one of these in Mason
jocundry@reddit
Yeah, there was one by my uncle's apartment in East Lansing
PM_ME_WEIRD_PETS@reddit
There's one at Lake Lansing park that's still there.
deeno777@reddit
Patriarche Park!
throwaway_eng_acct@reddit
I’m almost certain the one in the picture is in Potterville lol.
2PM2@reddit
Word, I was in East Dearborn… we were not as sophisticated. Lol
graveybrains@reddit
Belle Isle had one
gottarespondtothis@reddit
Pretty sure Ithaca still has one too
Narrow-Lengthiness-9@reddit
Had two in Bay City, but the city removed them a little over a decade ago I believe. An ecological survey detected significant amounts of lead and other such compounds in the soil. Turns out the chemicals that were used to pressure treat the wood at the time these things were being built were leeching out.
No_Understanding7431@reddit
Lawton still has one. Three Rivers had one, but tore it down. It was quite the fubar situation.
Madmortagan68@reddit
I grew up in Michigan and played on 3 different playgrounds like the picture . They weren't common but they definitely existed
A_Meat_Popcicle@reddit
Also grew up in Michigan, there was one of these in Chelsea, MI called Timber Town!
trashpandamagic@reddit
Yeah, those people who run quickly over short distances were a menace.
Alternative-Bee9645@reddit
The last time I saw one of these was in Marquette, MI
RealityOk9823@reddit
Yeah those guys that run real fast for short distances are really annoying. :D
BrattyTwilis@reddit
I lived in Kalamazoo for a couple of years and there was a park with one of those rocket things 🚀
NeverEndingCoralMaze@reddit
My school’s had a bridge, probably 5 or 6 feet off the ground, 4 planks wide, no railing, connecting two of the platforms.
We also had one with 4 tires side-by-side that you could stand on, hold a metal bar, and run in place on. We called it the chop buster.
chadwickipedia@reddit
Appropriate_Duck1057@reddit
Reminds me of the one on the beach in Corpus Christi, Tx. So many splinters
Relevant_Computer642@reddit
Only in last of us 2
Jugh3ad@reddit
One of my earliest memories was being on top, shoving my arm down a hole in the wood and getting stuck. I was a chubby little guy.
Commercial-Tea-4816@reddit
The splinters were worth it
Suspicious_Ear3442@reddit
The wasps, however...
erween84@reddit
There’s one near my house I take my 4 & 7 yr olds to frequently. It was closed down for a week last summer because there were a bunch of snakes under one of the towers and a little girl got bit!
Zeev89@reddit
Wait, these are still around?! The one my aunt and uncle took us too I think is gone nowadays.
wildferalfun@reddit
St Edward State Park in Washington has one. They close for a weekend every year to restain/fix the wood. Sometimes a tower is closed in the summer for wasps.
Astrazigniferi@reddit
The one at St. Edward is the one in the picture, right? Or did they only make one model of these?
KitKatAttackkkkkk@reddit
Also Kitsap Kids Playground
elephant7@reddit
And Cascade Elementary School in Marysville
JohnnieLawerence@reddit
Yes, snakes are still around. I checked
Zeev89@reddit
Well, I guess YOU would know about snakes, huh?
Ok-Brief5698@reddit
Flying splinters
SidFinch99@reddit
I just tell them I'm catholic and they leave me alone.
WRDT-TV_13@reddit
Booo, your joke sucks 🥀
Suspicious_Ear3442@reddit
🥁🥁🐍
NightmareTycoon@reddit
DeadRoseYepReally@reddit
🤣🤣🤣
Cohen_TheBarbarian@reddit
Oh the wasps!!!! Every year!!!
Anyone else's have a ship built onto one side ?
SnooObjections4628@reddit
Always
Oseirus@reddit
I caught a pretty sizeable splinter under my thumbnail as a kid on a play area like this. I was at some form of a theme park but I can't remember which one.
I do have very vivid memories of a paramedic using a syringe needle and tweezers to try and extract the thing. Most blindingly painful few minutes of my life. Even now, decades later, I get a weird tingle under my left thumbnail when I think about it.
It's also probably why I hate needles.
eyeopeningexp@reddit
Hell yeah!
majandess@reddit
Are! My town still has one! It closes for about a week every year for maintenance - they sand and restain, replace and broken pieces, make sure there's no wasps. One of the reasons we live in the house we do is that it's the closest one to the playground, and my son (6 at the time) obviously thought that was the most important factor. 😉
Mist_Rising@reddit
I'm shocked they kept it. These are carcinogenic nightmares due to how the wood was treated (still is treated I imagine). It's one of the reasons they died off. Metal is less cool but kinda not as bad.
majandess@reddit
I was incorrect in saying stain. They seal it. Probably for the reason you mention.
karlnite@reddit
I found they were always well worn and “greased”.
archangelmlg@reddit
I got a damn shard of wood embedded in my hand (with a nice little scar as a reminder).
Still worth it.
Gator2Romeo0@reddit
So was the arsenic underneath. ask me how I know 🫠
htownAstrofan@reddit
Oh god those splinters! Use to get like 3-4 in splinters on our wooden playground structure. Looked similar to that one. Plus the burns from going down the metal slide!
ooooooootreyngers@reddit
And bees
NoCommunication6512@reddit
Is that in Golds Beach?
Invoqwer@reddit
These were the absolute fucking best playgrounds to ever exist
We used to call them the godtier playgrounds or the kingsize playgrounds
Also absolutely amazing for anything with no-touch-ground rules
Jonny4toe@reddit
yeooooo no fuckin way literally thought this was from my towns reddit page because my elementary school had what looks like the same exact pic
Colorful_Dreamer111@reddit
This is a dream state for me, like super uncanny and liminal!!
Anarch-ish@reddit
I used to think those would be the best for zombie defense
PocketODoorknobs@reddit
Of course, that's the Big Toy.
TSA-Eliot@reddit
Our playgrounds were made of steel -- seesaw, merry-go-round, slide, swings, monkey bars -- and maybe some nice gravel to fall on.
We were the mean teenagers who laughed when you guys fell and hurt yourselves on those wooden things.
therealpopkiller@reddit
Park Pals! is what we called it in my central Florida town
JohnnyBacci@reddit
Bonus if there is the large swinging tire that spins and crashes into the wooden support posts
RyeGuySuppaFly@reddit
Anytime i see one and its empty, i go hang out and train on the monkey bars and the steering wheel. Im 40.
chilisalt890@reddit
There is still an incredible one of these that exists at Storvick Park in Anacortes, WA.
heymanyadungoofed@reddit
I live in Michigan and there is a park by my house that has one for these style play parks but smaller.
phoenix0r@reddit
Had one in Benicia California! It was built when I was around 9 or 10 and I thought it was biggest playground I’d ever seen. I drove by the other day, now 30 years later, and I couldn’t believe how much smaller and run down it looked. So many good memories there!
Olgafokyrslv@reddit
They have removed some parts of it too! The spinning tire swing is no longer there, for example. I still remember puking into a trash can after spinning for too long.
thorenv@reddit
My sister brings her kids there still. I remember playing on it when it was new and there were talk tubes all over!
lilladyjane12@reddit
The monkey bars and the slider bars were my favorite! Do guys remember the metal slide 🛝😬
InternetProtocol@reddit
Was lucky enough to have one of these in the next town over, maybe like a 10 minute drive from our house, and, when we weren't busy being little terrors, my mom would treat my brother and I with trips to the "good playground."
Hell, it might've been this exact one, as the layout is very familiar and I remember the larger rubber mat bridge thing would get REALLY hot from sitting in the sun all morning and afternoon.
CaregiverUsual6020@reddit
This is Higashihara park in south Kona on the big island, Hawaii. Played there with my kids for many years.
Different-Audience34@reddit
It looks pretty close to the one we had after they replaced the hot sheet metal slides and iron horses on top of car springs in Northern Illinois when I was growing up.
EfficiencyIVPickAx@reddit
Is this Harrisonburg?
djsynrgy@reddit
It's gone now, but my elementary school built one of these in dedication to one of my classmates, who was struck and killed in a DWI in '89. He was walking on the sidewalk with his little brother when the vehicle came through out of nowhere, driving right up onto that sidewalk, and that was that. We were in the 3rd grade at the time. His little brother wasn't hit.
All these years later, I still remember.
Due_Ad4133@reddit
AFAIK, My hometown still has theirs. They keep it maintained well enough.
Moquai82@reddit
I should still have some embedded splinters in my palm, per chance.
Flimsy-Informant@reddit
Bay Court? In Michigan?
Ordinary_Wolf_3271@reddit
Had one of these in my hometown, hit my head a few times and that hurt like hell. We also had this smaller, plastic and metal one that was closer at a campground near us that I remember just as well.
4chubby2chimichanga0@reddit
This is the exact one from our neighborhood we’d have bday family reunions late night drink sessions her e
semidivineone@reddit
Was a park just outside of the Minneapolis called Shoots and ladders. Was this massive wooden structure of tunnels, passageways, and a giant metal tube slide. In summer thing would get so hot they'd have to close it off but if you did go down the heat really didn't matter as you were going just under Mach 2. I remember my bro, cousins and I watched movie Hook and we went to park playing as lost boys. It had a huge zip line and all kinds of not safe stuff. It's still around I guess but metal slide was replaced back in 90s I think and little by little so we're most of the other unsafe elements. Still would seem pretty epic to a little dude but theyll never know what they missed out on.
Found old picture! https://imgur.com/gallery/rare-photos-of-epic-wooden-playground-LvaSnku
Any_Accident_3799@reddit
Park on park sanford FL, or they all look IDENTICAL?!
SparxPrime@reddit
I can see the boomer Facebook posts now
"We used to be a country...a proper country"
Fisheggs33@reddit
My kids now go to the school, but obviously all remodeled
PreposterousTrail@reddit
Are you from NYS? Cause that looks identical to the one at my elementary school. Good times!
domesystem@reddit
Still got two, still take my dude
semidiabolical@reddit
RIP Badger Boardwalk
boredcamp@reddit
Why are you at my elementary school? We also had giant cement dolphins for some reason
Top-Wolverine-8684@reddit
We have one in our city. It's one of the only parks left with swings.
TheVenetianMask@reddit
Those were on the richer hoods, we got the rusty tobogan with a puddle at the bottom.
Chadderbug123@reddit
Yup. Though only as a toddler I'd say. Come 5th grade they remodeled the place heavily.
Gloomy-Dependent9484@reddit
I absolutely did.
eshian@reddit
I got a concussion on one of these
itaintme1x2x3x@reddit
Sure did
exitlevelposition@reddit
Not just paid, but helped design name and build it.Our whole city got together, had volunteers and donations to put one of those together.It lasted a good twenty years and then was replaced by more modern equipment. My big contributions were washing nails before they were put in and claim that I designed the twisty slide because I sketched up the sundae Slide from double dare and I was a little miffed that they didn't put the ice cream at the bottom.
CelebrationNo1852@reddit
But like, what applicable engineering standards were these glorious places of enrichment designed under??
ThisLucidKate@reddit
Yeah there was a company that made this happen all over in the late 80s/early 90s. Really a core memory for me.
dipietron@reddit
In 4th grade I was a budding artist and drew up some ideas for the playground. I presented them to a room full of adults and it became a core memory for me. Remember the community building this epic castle playground. There was a construction company that traveled from town to town on the east coast helping communities build them.
aeyockey@reddit
I joined the “committee” to pick the name and the logo. We soaped the screws and my dad helped build it in the snow
xargos32@reddit
I remember soaping screws for the one I ended up playing on. I think we ended up voting on a name for it.
The playground is no longer standing. In some ways I wish it had stayed, but it wasn't the safest so maybe it's better that it didn't.
Plastic_Lecture9037@reddit
Help me out, why soap the screws and nails? You mean just wash them or what?
xargos32@reddit
We didn't do nails, but putting soap on screw threads basically lubricates them so they can be screwed in more easily.
exitlevelposition@reddit
Yeah, thinking on it, they probably were screws... I was in kindergarten at the time.
WallStreetAnus@reddit
I was in elementary school the year they built ours. The art teacher had us go outside and draw it as it was being built.
Vaxus335@reddit
My town did something very similar, it also got replaced by modern stuff which still makes me sad every time I drive by it and remember how fucking badass it used to be.
legsjohnson@reddit
omg were you the sesame street people? https://youtu.be/M9o1YwoCmZQ
exitlevelposition@reddit
No, suburban MA but that could have been a catalyst for sure.
WavesOfEchoes@reddit
Southern MA?
exitlevelposition@reddit
South Shore area, yeah
twoeightnine@reddit
Did every school do this? We helped build ours as well
Nice_Blackberry6662@reddit
There was a pretty cool one by the house I grew up in, but also sometimes I would stay with my grandma and she would take me to a different park like this and it was like traveling to a foreign kingdom.
split_cheekz@reddit
I feel like I've played at this exact one. Built when I was in middle school, played there all the time, day or night. The skate Park got added, never left. Grew up and took the little ones there all the time. It was rebuilt and quickly burned down by tweakers and rebuilt again.
Yestie@reddit
Still playing tbh
LordMashie@reddit
Yeah but it was under a big tree
jamfed@reddit
Good Ole' Lake Stevens, WA
Sudden_Airport_7469@reddit
The splinters, the death slides both hot and cold. The bees and wasps. The hidden chamber underneath where everyone wrote something on the inside. The gravel, not wood chips. The asbestos which led to the eventual demise of said wooden castle playground.
Cooper_Sharpy@reddit
There was one in SIC NJ, it was called play by the bay, it was after my playground years but a lot of teens played manhunt there at nite as we got older and it was great, then it evolved to where we smoked joints at 1 am. Not sure if it’s still there, been nearly a decade since we could afford renting and my folks sold their house there ages ago. Good memories for sure.
Sad-Ideal-9411@reddit
Gen z here I had one of those near my house about 8 years ago it is certainly more fun than the plastic ones
nirreskeya@reddit
I grew up in a trailer park and we had a kind of low-rent version. But it was a castle to us kids! I can see from the satellite view and plat outlines that it has been removed in favor of additional home lots, though it's still on a very grainy street view image that is from 2012. They did build a more modern but still modest playground for the kids in another corner of the neighborhood, conveniently by the algae- and god-knows-what-else-infested drainage pond that we also used to play around. Adult me hopes they at least built a fence around that.
Years later I moved to a small town several states away that had the kind of playground OP posted, and my kids played there a lot. The only images I can find though feature my goddaughter when she was really little, as she moved away with her mom when she was three or four. I guess I never brought the camera when it was my kids playing; too busy running around with them reliving my youth. :)
LatinBotPointTwo@reddit
Very fond memories, splinters included. XD
bauul@reddit
This is the second post about these I've seen in as many months. Are they really that rare? I have like 3 within a few miles of me.
needtoshave@reddit
Frontier Park, Pacifica, Ca. It’s still up and running.
Aelorane@reddit
Sure did. There was one in a town about 25 minutes away that was turned into a small fortress outfitted with water gun turrets. Good times.
cardnialsyn@reddit
We used to play tag on one of those. Normal rules plus if you touched the ground for any reason you were automatically it.
dyrnych@reddit
I got a high ankle sprain doing this exact thing.
JustHugMeAndBeQuiet@reddit
Sounds like you're "it"
Current-Struggle-514@reddit
They prefer non-binary /s
Darnitol1@reddit
Is this one in Frisco, Texas? I have a photo that looks almost identical to this.
ddk_1982@reddit
Yes! That's my elementary school set up! ✌️
Starshot84@reddit
Port Washington , best playground around
catner75@reddit
This was an upgrade from the boat made of used tires and creosote saturated train track spacers. It’s the reason we were required to get tetanus shots and why we got early onset mesothelioma. IYKYK.
kimchiman85@reddit
Yep. It was fun.
Korumry@reddit
Did anyone else tunnel under parts of this thing to access secret areas? The only thing down there was wasps but still cool!
VarietyNo6072@reddit
I have but do you know where this place is? because i feel like i have seen it
imtooldforthishison@reddit
Had one of these bad boys in Atlanta. It was halfway between my mother's house and my dad's house, on top of a hill. 40 years later and 30+ years not living in atlanta, I am certain I could drive to that park and its a giant icky green plastic thing now.
Aggravating-Key-8867@reddit
That looks just like the playground I went to as a kid. OP, where did you get this photo?
smith_716@reddit
They were everywhere! I live in Buffalo, NY and placed on one exactly like this.
One of the big problems was the wood was treated with arsenic to waterproof it and parents suddenly got so worried about their children who were, idk, gnawing on the playground? So almost, if not all, were torn down for molded plastic.
DocWednesday@reddit
I too recall that there was some stink about arsenic.
F6Collections@reddit
Which is really only harmful if you burn it and wood treated with the older pressure treatment chemicals lasted so much longer than the weak shit they use now.
Mysterious_Secret827@reddit
Go bills! I remember the one in Wellsville, during the balloon rallies!
tjdux@reddit
There are 100s across the nation. From the right angle they all look the same. At least 50% of the photos of these I have to search for a detail to confirm its not the one down the street from me.
NBAFansAre2Ply@reddit
not just the nation, these were common in Canada too and possibly elsewhere.
mossfae@reddit
To me, this one looks like one nearish Lancaster PA that I used to to to as a kid. Big park, and up the hill was a picnic pavilion and a pine forest with a path...
TheFroggyGaming@reddit
It’s in New Holland near the community pool! And it’s still there!
mossfae@reddit
The one I was thinking of was Lloyd H Roland park!
Mgscott8888@reddit
Rockford, IL. One of the most fun places of my childhood.
ellebee8@reddit
My people! 👋 Corner of Mulford & Guilford, right?
Stimpinstein22@reddit
Yeah, was going to say Rockford. We were from Wisconsin, and my cousin moved to Rockford late ‘80’s. In ‘92, the whole family visited them for her First Communion. The Saturday before, we all went to this park and played the coolest game of hide n seek with like 20 kids, half strangers…
badgerhammer0408@reddit
Kids Kingdom!
No-Reaction-9793@reddit
Samesies!
SignificantApricot69@reddit
No, but my kids did.
Gold-Palpitation-527@reddit
Mine overlooked Devil's Lake.
89eplacausa14@reddit
Yes and there was also a tire ladder where they’d play a game called toilet monsters
JennJoy77@reddit
Our town has a playground exactly like that, apparently built in the 90s...the city council just posted on FB looking for feedback on the preferred new design, and everyone is commenting to just spruce up the wood and make it safer and they will be quite happy, thank you very much!
PhoneJazz@reddit
I still see this as the “modern” playground, after my time! (1982 baby)
I grew up with the clanging, searing heat of the metal death trap play grounds.
BetterEveryDayYT@reddit
I didn't see these until the early 00s.
Our playgrounds were metal when I was young... and there were some awesome contraptions that no longer exist.
This one was AWESOME unless you fell under everyone's feet. That is what caused most of the injuries on our playground.
Anaxamenes@reddit
The slides that were like 14 ft tall, metal and had barely any rails as you slid down.
Psychological-Let-90@reddit
Into a bunch of spikey wood chips.
Anaxamenes@reddit
We had gravel at first. Then a dirt hole where the wood chips used to be. They were fast slides. Back when kids were allowed to have fun and parents wouldn’t sue for kids just being kids
wheatgivesmeshits@reddit
We had dusty hot rocks to land on at my school in Texas.
Psychological-Let-90@reddit
Those were off the sides of the slide.
iheartpyrex@reddit
Yes. I grew up with an amazing playground. One day a kid fell from the slide and broke their arm (or leg, I don’t recall). Their parent sued the park district and won.
The old equipment was later removed and replaced with something just like in the OP’s photo. It never hit the same. It felt too tame and at that point I was kind of outgrowing the playground anyway.
Anaxamenes@reddit
Oh the plastic safety slides were so depressing.
Katt357@reddit
And seemed to have a straight down angle
Anaxamenes@reddit
Good for a quick getaway during tag though.
MartyFreeze@reddit
Yeah, I remember when these started replacing all the old metal pipe style playgrounds around the 90s..
Loved both styles, good times!
heyitsfelixthecat@reddit
I remember when they first built one in my area in the early 90s, it was a big fucking deal.
bikemandan@reddit
Many of these were built in the 70s
wheatgivesmeshits@reddit
Same, there were a few of these around in the early 90s when I was out growing playgrounds, so I do recall them a bit. That said I mostly remember the metal jungle gyms, slides that burned your ass, merry go rounds with no speed limits and little to hold onto, and see-saws that broke your jaw.
PrincessJoyHope@reddit
Yes! And then a teen arson burned it to the ground and got burnt really bad in the process. They since rebuilt and renamed it.
Cool thing is I helped build the original and I got my name on one of the pickets on the surrounding fence. 25 years later and now my kid’s names surround the new one.
Southside_john@reddit
Yes, with the wasps
RatBoy86@reddit
Why were there always wasps? I remember wasps being more of a thing in the 80s and 90s. I haven’t had to deal with one in years.
BetterEveryDayYT@reddit
These weren't a thing near me until I was too old to play on the playground.
GroovyBoomshtick@reddit
Ours was called “Fort Apache” and it rocked. TJ Lahey what’s up?!
goldenrule117@reddit
Yes! Class of 2001!
GroovyBoomshtick@reddit
Ha. Amazing. ‘02
ambien_and_oreos@reddit
the amount of drinking and making out with boys i didn’t in this thing
Top_Praline999@reddit
Anyone have dreams about these? Specifically in the dessert?
fengshui@reddit
Some still exist, thankfully:
https://sbparksandrec.santabarbaraca.gov/parks/kids-world-playground
Miserable-Energy8844@reddit
Yongsan army post Seoul Korea
gurxman@reddit
they tore down 90% of the one in my area and the majority of kids choose to play on the 10% that remains. they tried to board it off and leave it as a visual piece and the kids just climbed over the boards, they were eventually took down the boards.
paxtonious@reddit
Yes. The one at my school was designed by a grade 7 class in the early 70s. By the mid 90s the fun police had been slowly dismantling the structure one safety hazard at a time until it was gone.
drawredraw@reddit
No, I was just a year behind those. Our equipment was all steel and fiberglass.
HunterGonzo@reddit
We had this exact playground in my town as a kid and I loved it with all my heart.
However, my mom met my abusive ex-step dad during a community project to help construct it. So I also hate it.
The perfect Xennial experience.
Weird_Vacation8781@reddit
Oh yes. I grew up in a logging town and a lumber company supplied and built it. I would not be surprised if people who went looking for it's edge in 1991 are just now returning.
Evening-Persimmon-19@reddit
I'm Gen Z and had this as well. The one I went to was torn down some years ago though
FionaGoodeEnough@reddit
Is this the one they built on Sesame Street? Because I still dream of getting to play on that one.
silvaphysh13@reddit
Playground designer here, this is an old Leathers system. It's very interesting, whenever people see them, they always seem to think it's a picture of their specific hometown playground. In reality, these were designs made by a company in upstate New York!
EntertainmentOk6470@reddit
I was more of a hot metal slide kind of kid
trevorgoodchilde@reddit
The one at my park wasn’t that extensive but it had a ramp going to the upper level we would ride our bikes down
phdpinup@reddit
Yes! Some teens burned ours down and the school quickly rebuilt it the same. They did it again, so it was rebuilt by the community. The last time the teens did it, they put in a monstrous plastic one. That again, the teens tried to burn down.
princeparaflinch@reddit
There was one in Cincinnati that was built underneath a heavily-travelled bridge. Emphasis on was.
Some weirdos decided to set it on fire. The resulting blaze damaged the bridge and closed the highway for months. An amazing playground was lost and traffic was even worse than usual. Assholes
ExtensionSystem3188@reddit
Is this wacky world?
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit
Yes and I suffered my first concussion on one.
Material-Support931@reddit
Shut down school near me had one of those. They knocked down the school but left that exact playset. Played on it for years, found many condoms and needles. Until some kid burned it down for fun along with the left side of his body.
PeregrineV@reddit
Had one like this in downtown San Antonio. Aptly named, the Downtown All-around Playground, I think. Existed in late 80s and 90s, been replaced now. Great place to take the kids, nothing like it now.
mexter@reddit
There's one in Kona, Hawaii. Kamakana playground, i believe it's called? I bright my kids there last December.
BayouMan2@reddit
yes, my school replaced these in like 1993 or 94.
riveramblnc@reddit
There was a park in Winchester, VA that had this....I l loved it.
WickedWenchie@reddit
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho has one downtown. I remember being bummed they ripped out the old skin-melting slide and child blender.
They built this in 3 days for some charity thing I think. Was fun to go there and I took my son when he was little.
Colodagh@reddit
I was on a cross between splinter giver and fry you to a crisp.
UNSC_Leader@reddit
I remember King Kone ice cream in Katonah, NY having one.
Diseman81@reddit
Nope. We had playgrounds that were built in the 60s and 70s. I was already in high school before I ever saw one similar to this.
AffectionateDuck5521@reddit
the most painful splinters of all time.
Mine also smelled like piss in the nooks and crannies.
Khoas7@reddit
Yo that looks like Breckneck Park in Camden DE. Do a streetview.
Jakethered_game@reddit
This and a toy lightsaber
DallasCowboyOwner@reddit
Born in 2000 and my town grew up with this exact play set. Best park in town and it was huge. I didn’t know there were more like it
Successful_Creme8192@reddit
Is this in Michigan? south Haven?
barrybulsara@reddit
/r/croppingishard
3point21@reddit
Dude, I grew up on monkey bars. If you broke an arm or leg on the monkey bars, girls would write their name on your cast. Unfortunately I never broke any bones. My brother OTOH got all the girls…
Beginning_Ad9524@reddit
PIRATE SHIP!!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼😁😃☺️ Had a tire swing under ours. And if you dug beneath it, you could find red clay 🩵🩵🩵
nightgoat85@reddit
I grew up in a really blue collar working class area and the park just had a typical fiberglass play sets littered with cigarette butts and used condoms and one of those telephone looking things that always reeked of piss. There was a rich area a couple towns north that had one of these epic wooden playgrounds and every once in awhile my mom would take us there.
PutNameHere123@reddit
Yes! One is in Lexington, MA. They held a carnival next to it on Fourth of July. I distinctly remember watching the fireworks from the ‘castle.’
Eagle_Rock2015@reddit
Yes
FromTheOutside31@reddit
The best tag games were played here!
aritumex@reddit
Yeah, when my school replaced it they resourced the labor from the parents and my dad worked on it. They put it in the yearbook.
ProfessionalCoat8512@reddit
Yes and the girls would invade our fort now and then even with the recess long watch.
FriiSpirit@reddit
Boy did i, those were my favorite
yayoffbalance@reddit
I loved these playgrounds. They were rare for me and they felt magical. One was right by a lake on a beach and it was amazing.
Themoosemingled@reddit
Ours was space themed.
3ShotsToHell@reddit
One almost identical in Sonora CA
Common_Celery_5018@reddit
Had one just like that in Lexington, MA
juniperandmulberry@reddit
Solidly a younger Millennial but my elementary school in Houston, TX had one of these! They replaced it shortly after I moved up to middle school. Best playground of my life.
baxtermcsnuggle@reddit
The park that had that since 1994 tore it down and put up new equipment this last year. I remember the teachers at my school took us there during construction to soap up bolts so they could be drilled in easier. making us feel like it was OUR park by helping build it.
proto5014@reddit
Reminds me of compo beach in Westport. Is the wood playground still there? Haven’t been there in ages
impairedvisionary@reddit
Fantasy works
LikeHolyChic@reddit
There's still a really fun one in chesapeake virginia!
anakusis@reddit
Looks like bear creek park
CorkyDonkins@reddit
As a kid, there was nothing like a day at Bear Creek Park with a trip to the Minute Market down the street for an ice cream.
FleasInDisguise@reddit
My 6yo just played on one of these earlier today! We moved a few months ago and our old town had one too.
methospixie@reddit
Kids Cove @ Mt. Trashmore in Virginia Beach - I was a little old for it by the time it was built, but my younger sister got to have a lot of fun there.
DatMoeFugger@reddit
In my town there is a Park that has one of these still. Nearby is a plaque honoring Riley Howell. Bronze Star recipient. Purple Heart recipient and named Jedi (Canon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_University_of_North_Carolina_at_Charlotte_shooting#Victims
AScaryKitty@reddit
That got me right in the childhood! Anyone know if there any of these left standing in Canada?
Ashamed_Lawyer_9269@reddit
There is still one similar down the street from me :)
AlkalineSignature@reddit
Fever dream
Essie-j@reddit
We spent some of our gym classes helping to build one.
Elevenyearstoomany@reddit
I’ve played on that exact one as a matter of fact! As an adult chasing my kids.
coslet@reddit
Valplayso? Come on someone else from the area
RedSolez@reddit
Kids Castle in Doylestown PA puts this one to shame, and is still very much alive and kicking. Other smaller ones are around the area too.
gbkdalton@reddit
There was one at the elementary school and one at the town playground. The school on was freaking amazing. Two castles, tore bridges, zip line, outbuildings. Loads of slides. I never got a splinter. The replacement looks so boring.
mrnoonan81@reddit
I can smell this picture.
jordan11taylor@reddit
The sweet smell of creosote.
ScreenTricky4257@reddit
I can hear the bridge creaking as kids bounce on it.
Miserable-Okra-8787@reddit
Lower U.S.
DannerZero@reddit
I miss this smell
TheseCod2660@reddit
Hell yeah! I zig zagged so many predators in that bad boi!
zoey8068@reddit
I helped raise money to build one. We used to go underneath it to make out.
Mysterious_Secret827@reddit
Curious, remember how much you needed to raise and raise?
zoey8068@reddit
I was very young all the sports teams did fund raisers, it was a big deal.
Mysterious_Secret827@reddit
Awesome! Yeah, something like that IS a big deal!
mermernola@reddit
Also would explore under. We would dig to go under. Not making out though.
mrpappageorge0@reddit
I think i still have a splinter in my hand
CapinWinky@reddit
Marry Munford Elementary in Richmond has one exactly like this to the point I'm wondering if this is an image of that exact one.
tex1138@reddit
We had one in Texas that my kids grew up playing on. It was great. At some point they figured out it was impregnated with arsenic (or something bad) - so they “sealed” it. Afterwards it has a much darker - more sinister look.
Mysterious_Secret827@reddit
But it's STILL up? All the others seem to be taken down because of the arsenic.
johnnys_sack@reddit
Hell yes, Pinewood Elementary in Mounds View, MN. Must have been late 80s or early 90s. It was the best playground.
Comfortable_Horse277@reddit
My dad helped build the one in our town. All the dads did.
agentb00th@reddit
From hide and go seek at midnight; to meeting other rambunctious teens with bottles that would hopefully never be noticed gone... Kids Kingdom was the shit
Alric_Wolff@reddit
We had one near here called "The Imagination Station" I was pretty young and it was the 90s, I think I remember this being replaced or gone by probably 2006
TicTocTequila@reddit
I remember going to one near Garland when I was a kid. LOVED it!
ma-ki-na@reddit
It was called Wonder Works
whenithalesitpours@reddit
They built one of these in my hometown and had to tear it down when they realized it had leeched chemicals into the town's drinking water, literally a few yards away.
ma-ki-na@reddit
It was called W
Mysterious_Secret827@reddit
So many awesome hours and memories trying to find my niece and nephew!
Electronic-Home-7815@reddit
Davis California. We had one in the biggest park in the city. They had this crawl area with pictures of monsters drawn from various grades from various elementary schools in the city and my class did one of them. I was so proud to see mine there when it got built.
xxlouserxx@reddit
in my little NE Florida town we had one. They called it Castlevania
greendave11@reddit
Bring them back!
TaskmasterOfPuppets@reddit
DJGumDrop@reddit
We played on it in the mornings, the homeless slept/peed on it in the evenings… ahhh childhood
Saucy_Baconator@reddit
I'm 48M and miss the hell out of these. Enough that I thought "why don't they make Adult versions of these?" And then both my knees and my back started hurting in unison as if to say, "take that thought the f*** back - now."
steady_eddie215@reddit
Reminds me of Parkside Place in North Wales, Pa. Amazing playground. I loved that place growing up.
SpicyVibration@reddit
I remember cracking the shit out of my head on one of those wooden beams, lol
Curious_Tap_1528@reddit
Heck yeah. I can somehow instantly smell that distinct tarys mell of treated lumber, just by looking at this pic.
Old-Ad-3126@reddit
I have but none of them were pure word, only either plastic or metal/polymer.
hideNseekKatt@reddit
These were the kind I grew up with. They burned the shit out of you but they didn't smell like piss like the wood ones did.
Allrojin@reddit
This looks exactly identical to the one we had in my town. Now it's ball fields.
RSR_of_Vortis@reddit
I got a chuck of wood stuck in my leg from one of these. My skin grew over it, and my immune system liquified the wood. It was all much by the time my negligent parents had it looked at by a doctor. I still have a scar.
meleaguance@reddit
Didn't have them where i lived as a kid, but as a teen we'd play a sort of blind man's bluff on them after dark
Misfit_77@reddit
I got a few splinters just looking at this photo!
moon_blisser@reddit
Yes! This was our community playground growing up AND IT’S STILL THERE! I took my kids to play on it a few weeks ago, and it was the first time I’d been there in over 20 years. Amazing nostalgia rabbit hole.
SirMayday1@reddit
I'm too old to have played on one of these. At least, that's how I understand it; I was in my mid-teens (and frankly jealous of the younger folks) when I first saw one of these. Might've been a regional thing, but I feel like these didn't exist until I was too old to enjoy them.
Carmen_Beardiego@reddit
I was also born in 83 and I played on one of these when I was 5 or 6
SirMayday1@reddit
A regional thing, then, at least insofar as the towns I grew up in didn't have these.
xeroid051@reddit
I'm sure the 2nd playground (South side near the zoo) in High Park in Toronto has one like this currently.
snwbrdngtr@reddit
We had the metal heat-deathorama for most of my childhood. They put one of these in right as I hit a growth spurt and I had to duck while running or I’d knock my gawky ass out on a crossbeam!
So, kinda? Denver 81
jesusmansuperpowers@reddit
There’s still one near me
AdAshamed2756@reddit
These were so fun!!
Theartistcu@reddit
We had giant rock fights, we called them The Wars
Wet_Bubble_Fart@reddit
Ours burned down
TeddyAtTheReady@reddit
I can smell this picture.
I got married inside one of those turrets when I was 8. We said “I do” and she gave me her bracelet and I kissed her cheek. Then my friend wanted to marry her, thinking it was his turn. I shoved him and he fell over in the pea gravel and started crying. My new bride wasn’t impressed with my attempt to defend her honor and promptly took back her bracelet. I got to have a chat with the principal, who also did not see my actions as gallant.
Itchy-Pomelo-4524@reddit
My kids have and they are 17/16 now. It was a very old park they tore down shortly after we aged out of playing there.
I_cant_hear_you_27@reddit
Yep! I have the scars as reminders. In two separate occasions i needed 4 stitches from incidents involving these play grounds. Both on my head!
WeakSherbert@reddit
Southlake, Texas
Crans10@reddit
The ultimate one was at the city park nearby the Ft Worth Zoo. It is or was amazing.
Electronic-Spinach43@reddit
I think this may be one near me. Only built around 2010, if you can believe that.
mnemonikos82@reddit
I'd still play on one of these
JennHatesYou@reddit
The best playground in NYC growing up was the wooden park in the 70s on Columbus. Hopefully someone in here will know what I’m talking about.
maskedmex@reddit
Utah? Somewhere near Layton or Fruit Heigts?
sugarandspice27@reddit
That looks just like my elementary school!
TwoDudesAtPPC@reddit
YESSSSSS and to jump off of the rooooof
ronimal@reddit
Back in my day we used to crop our screenshots
evoxker@reddit
Burden Park, Melbourne, Victoria.
inept_machete@reddit
I'm taking my kids to one tomorrow. That slide produces static I think is borderline dangerous.
SheezaMom@reddit
Yes! There's still one like this about 45 mins away and we take the kids sometimes. So fun to play on
LizBethie@reddit
You mean there was more than one!?!?!??!
mizushimo@reddit
Yes but ones that weren't nearly this palatial
mix0logist@reddit
Hell yeah. It was called SuperPark in our town.
KudosOfTheFroond@reddit
We had one called KidSpace back in my hometown when I was a kid. They ended up tearing it down cause the wood had creosote in it which I guess is a carcinogen. That playground was l e g e n d a r y
burnitdwn@reddit
I remember the all metal ones painted bright colors
itsjakerobb@reddit
There’s one at a park near my house so my kids can play there. Of course, I play too. Feels so natural.
OG_Ashton@reddit
We called ours timbertown
find_the_apple@reddit
Were these mass produced? Cause it looks exactly like the one across the k1 center (iykyk)
Spacebotzero@reddit
Splinter City.
xargos32@reddit
Something similar, yes. In retrospect, the one I played on wasn't very safe.
gbquake@reddit
I helped build a millennium park like this in Marin county, CA. I planned to do a lot of work but ended up getting a tooth pulled and I missed a bunch of the build. Stupid root canal tooth, should have had it pulled to begin with. I’d take a playground snake bite over either part of that tooth’s drama.
FunkyChromeMedina@reddit
We had one of these at my elementary school. My dad helped build it (he's a carpenter).
My parents still live in the same town and we've been back many times in the last 10 years with my daughter. The playground is almost entirely unchanged. It's amazing.
Clear-Journalist3095@reddit
Weirdly, no. We didn't have one where I grew up. But there is one in the town where I live now, so my kids have played on one!
Iamthegreenheather@reddit
My aunt had a wooden jungle gym that was a pirate ship. One day I accidentally let the cat out and the dog in the back yard chased it into the boat. I went to rescue it and was barefoot. I got an enormous piece of wood stuck in the bottom of my foot. I tried to get it out on my own but my dad and uncle had to hold me down and dig it out of my foot. I screamed the whole time and my poor mom was just crying hearing me. Good times. 😂
Do_it_My_Way-79@reddit
I never saw a playground like this growing up in Southern California. First time I ever saw one was just a few years ago when my kid started attending a school that has one.
thinktankflunkie@reddit
We called ours "Log City"
NotYourSexyNurse@reddit
Yes! There was one in the expensive suburbs of Chicago!
Chief_Br0dy@reddit
Creel Elementary School. Melbourne, FL.
Falderfaile@reddit
New Smyrna Beach had one too right by the water underneath the south causeway.
GrumpyDietitian@reddit
I have a literal scar on my body from this playground
MrsPeacock_was_a_man@reddit
We still have one here in Rochester, MN
edcross@reddit
Yes the community built it in the 80s. …and in fifth grade we watched them bulldoze it.
CourtOrphanage@reddit
Wash Park, Denver, Colorado <3
NelvisAlfredo@reddit
Still have one in the neighboring town by me in Ohio!
fricks_and_stones@reddit
I didn’t, but the city I currently live in had this till 2012 when an arsonist burned it down. Now it’s a modern structure.
Snoo_72467@reddit
Highland village Texas?
fricks_and_stones@reddit
Sacramento, CA.
sdholbs@reddit
We still have one in Berkeley, CA. At Aquatic Park!
Chicoern@reddit
My little dude loves aquatic park playground. Although I heard a while ago that it’s on the chopping block, still there so far!
Fun-Grab-9337@reddit
One of my early childhood memories is falling off the top deck of one of these right on my back and getting the wind knocked the fuck outta me. If I fell like that today I think I would just die.
adjust_the_sails@reddit
They still have a few in California that I’ve been to. One in Berkley and another in Folsom.
1True_Hero@reddit
Gen Z here. I got to play on one just before it got taken down a few years later. It was awesome.
dgafas@reddit
As a carpenter, this would be the absolute most fun thing in the world to build.
twodexy82@reddit
The Creative Playground!!! That’s what our school called it
twoeightnine@reddit
Same
jamescb819@reddit
I loved those playgrounds.
aWilburs@reddit
There is still one in west Seattle.
ttttunos@reddit
KID CITY - BOOTH HILL SCHOOL RIP
Tazinoka@reddit
The one where I grew up had to be professionally cleaned since a bunch of idiots decided to have a diaper fight there. I can still see the dirty diapers clinging to the climbing wall...
SweetCosmicPope@reddit
They opened one in Galveston not too far from my hometown. It was a big deal when they did and we got to go there on our way home from a field trip.
gerardkimblefarthing@reddit
Too old for those... We had scorching steel sunk into concrete.
krissym99@reddit
Yeah, I didn't have one of these around until I was middle school just as I was aging out of playgrounds. I did go a few times, but our playgrounds had the hot slides and see-saws.
Turbulent-Pea-8826@reddit
Hell no. I had a swing set, a jungle gym and a rickety metal slide that burned you alive.
ElendVenture9000@reddit
We called ours the wooden monster
Notoriouslyd@reddit
My mom helped build it. I dont like driving by where it used to be. Years of my memories razed to the ground.
AlgoStar@reddit
This exact model. It incredible. There was a spot with nothing in the middle that if you were small enough you could get into and it was like a gladiator pit, the kids in the turrets would shout down to you.
o0psAllBerries@reddit
my grandparents donated to build one and so me my brothers and cousins all got our names on slats on the fence. prob around 1992 if i were to guess
Aardet@reddit
Still have one at Fuller Park, Ann Arbor — my kids play on it
TheBrownCouchOfJoy@reddit
It was the only playground where I could evade my father. It cost me some splinters but he learned a lesson that day. Maybe.
IvanNemoy@reddit
Look at all these people growing up in a city where they had the money for this kind of stuff...
International_Mail44@reddit
Ours was demolished because they found high levels of arsenic.
Ice_crusher_bucket@reddit
Was that pic taken in southern IN by chance?
Heavy72@reddit
I help raise the money to build our in our town. Collected cans. Did fund raiders. Walked in parades taking up donations... I raised enough to sit on the design "committee." Hell I helped build it. they tore it down a couple years back to put in more parking for the baseball fields.
Ok_Avocado568@reddit
No but looks fun
TurtleHeadPrairieDog@reddit
My cousins town had one of these. Went back a few years ago and it was all replaced with green plastic structures :(
Key-Lead-5642@reddit
The imagination station in Randolph Massachusetts. I spent a ton of time there as a youth. It looked very much like the one in the picture. I thought it was. They rebuilt it a few years ago but it doesn't quite have the same soul
unicorncholo@reddit
No, but I remember when they were built
DPTDubbs@reddit
Absolutely the best for snow ball right a
nick_soccer10@reddit
San Marcos, TX had an amazing one, it has been updated and is still such an awesome playground
Interestofconflict@reddit
Hell no, mine was concrete pipes and metal monkey bars with sheet metal slides and a buncha sand. This shit is something my (now-12-year-old) kid played on… way safer than what I had.
meizhong@reddit
We didn't have this in my neighborhood. We played at the construction company after they closed. 😂
My favorite was the big concrete pipes! A close second was a stack of rebar, stacked in a grid pattern twice as tall as any of us, with absolutely no straps or anything keeping it from falling over, that we climbed inside of all the time!
If we weren't doing that, we were putting pennies on the rail road track, then climbing up the trees that extended slightly over the tracks when we heard the train coming!
80s, yo! 👍
TSLBestOfMe@reddit
I helped to build on of these haha
goodguyatheist@reddit
Not even joking I'm like 90% sure this is my hometown
PoopUponPoop@reddit
‘84 here but yeah, we played tag with a tennis ball and it was epic
Samurai_lettuce@reddit
Stuff that dreams are made of
WillEdit4Food@reddit
Pacifica, CA still has theirs. It’s rad
Ssme812@reddit
Yeah. I loved the bridge.
moongypsy713@reddit
Oh yes.
m0h3k4n@reddit
Me and some of my cousins were staying with my grandparents for a week and one of the days it rained like crazy. The playground near their house flooded about a foot. The structure was reachable by jumping between some vertical posts. It was the most epic pirate castle the world has ever seen.
Alternative_Art_9502@reddit
This looks exactly like the old kids kastle park in highland village Texas. It turns out it was leeching some chemical and became dangerous so they had to tear it down and rebuild as a different “similar” structure.
slothbuddy@reddit
That's what I thought it was, but I can't really tell. I think this one might have been in PA but I'm not sure
jibjibjib2000@reddit
Yes and there were usually multiple wasp nests under some of the beams.
CombinationSimilar@reddit
The Big Toy
phyx726@reddit
We used to have a line at the principals office go get splinters out
Foreign_Town6853@reddit
We had one but someone burnt in down a few years ago. Looked exactly like this one. Southern Oregon
ailish@reddit
We never had one so elaborate but there was something similar at one of the parks near us in one of the houses we lived in.
Chemical_Shallot_575@reddit
My playgrounds were metal over concrete, then replaced by blacktop. Lots of high bars and poles. There were a lot of concussions and broken limbs in the 80s from these playgrounds.
Then, by the 90s, wood chips were used, and everything got safer.
By the mid-90s, these playgrounds were replaced by plastic.
Naive-Direction1351@reddit
Yes and they were magical
SuperDevin@reddit
Yes
Justkeeptalking1985@reddit
Kinda....it was built like my last kid summer
Logical-Ad-5410@reddit
Not only did I play on these in my youth, I helped build one when I graduated from high school.
bikemandan@reddit
Yup. Polliwog Park, Manhattan Beach, CA
andy_nony_mouse@reddit
My son still does
gottarespondtothis@reddit
They still exist in some places! My very rural hometown still has one tucked away in the park 😁
In high school this was the weed smoking spot at night lol
BeanDux@reddit
There's still a similar wooden playground where I live, Brecknock in Camden Delaware, but I think they plan on "updating" it soon... There were flyers for voting on its replacement.
BonjinTheMark@reddit
There was one near my house. It was awesome
FirmResearcher4617@reddit
Yes!
kshizzlenizzle@reddit
There is still one of those in Arlington, TX. My son played there when he was little, and still has a crippling fear of hornets after getting stung. 🤣
angryslothbear@reddit
My dad helped build one for my school
Grantasarus-rex@reddit
They had one at Percy Quin State Park - McComb MS. Spent many weekends playing on that thing
nameistakenagain9999@reddit
I miss Fort Kid
Andy32pink@reddit
This literally is the exact same setup as my school's lol. Clearly a template, just blows my mind that it's the same, down to that rubber bridge thing. It's still there in my hometown too!
oliyoung@reddit
I’m pretty sure I’ve played on that exact one, it’s in the southern suburbs of Adelaide Australia https://maps.app.goo.gl/pxVhNJJSi48S2xrTA?g_st=ipc
flippy77@reddit
There’s one like this in Maryland right now.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YHH7VVvJf5KuFj2k8
Agreeable-Chart-5561@reddit
Yep, and the rats that lived underneath
ninjacat4@reddit
Yep, and helped build it too.
It's gone now.
darknightofthesoul24@reddit
I had one at my elementary school!
clobbersaurus@reddit
My town still has one, I was there with my kid today.
annaoceanus@reddit
I got so many splinters from them lol
Katt357@reddit
My boyfriend and I would play "hide and come get it" in one of these playgrounds back in gighschool on the nights we would sneak out of our houses and meet up. Good times.
statuesqueandshy@reddit
Yes, and I buried my jelly shoes in the pea gravel never to be found again.
unclebea@reddit
Play? No, I was the king!
Economy-Camp-7339@reddit
This looks like the play structure at the Germantown MD soccer. I have fond memories of taking my kids there, even if it’s not actually that.
ontguy69@reddit
Loved these!! They have all been taken down now though🙁
TheJokersWild53@reddit
As a teenager, we used to go to one of these and play tag around midnight.
Uncl3j33b3s@reddit
We used to climb around the outside of the top county parts . And had epic gravel rock wars
Risikio@reddit
This photo probably isn't really, but it's still nice to see Iron Mountain Forge again.
That's the name of the playground company that manufactured those types of playground.
My mom sold playground equipment.
Technical-Weekend598@reddit
I fell out of one and got a concussion
walkingturtlelady@reddit
Indian Boundary Park in chicago
peggysue_82@reddit
There are several within a stones throw of my house. My kids have had the pleasure of splinters and wasp stings at those playgrounds.
3OsInGooose@reddit
I played at this one specifically, unless I’m mistaken
bluepatter@reddit
YES they were so badass and I kept injuring myself but I always went back
usmcnick0311Sgt@reddit
They still exist
Illustrious_Bad_2980@reddit
Yup. When I was 23 (and drunk)
church-basement-lady@reddit
There were none close to home (really rural) but there was an enormous wooden castle playground near my aunt and uncle. It was the most exciting thing and they were really good sports about taking us.
Nonchalant_Rutabaga@reddit
I was just talking about this the other day! I used to love to climb to the very top and sit on the platform you would use before you go down a slide. There was a partition wall around it and you could sit up there and just chill in your little fort all by yourself. Or you know, with your friends, if you had any friends I suppose 🥲☂️
Mondoweft@reddit
Ours was metal, and had snakes. A lot of the wood ones were removed as they were treated with arsenic.
Vegetable-Syrup-5545@reddit
Nothing this elaborate. As a kid playing tag this setup is epic.
FewConversation569@reddit
South Bend, IN checking in. Out was called Kids Kingdom and it was in park outside the zoo.
Spartan04@reddit
We had several playgrounds like this at parks when I was a kid. Unfortunately they have all been torn down and replaced. The main reason was that the pressure treated lumber could leech arsenic. That’s why they all seemed to disappear around the same timeframe.
Nightcroc@reddit
Some are still up
grey487@reddit
We still have one of these (if this isnt the one) in my hometown in Indiana.
thrwaway070879@reddit
Pretty recently yea at a nephews birthday.
itadapeezas@reddit
Yes, and regular people in the community volunteered to build it themselves, and they did, in one week. It was a staple of our town, right in the middle of downtown. They recently tore it down and put up a walkway.
ValancyNeverReadsit@reddit
Yep, had one very close to that built at my k-12 school when I was in middle school.
8last@reddit
These came to Florida after my late teens. Dont remember anything like this when I was a kid (1980)
Retro_Relics@reddit
my dad managed to get stuck in one trying to follow me at the time and it took like 3 other dads to yank him out. He wasn't even a big guy, he was an elite swimmer, but they are not adult sized
Appropriate_Split_97@reddit
Yes. Best playground ever.
sixfive407@reddit
Winter Park FL. I didn't get to live in Winter Park but we would drive to their nice playgrounds.
redcurrantevents@reddit
I brought my kids to play on one!
VinRow@reddit
That looks a lot like the one from my elementary school.
AccomplishedCicada60@reddit
I feel like unplayed on this exact one!
Crazydiamond450@reddit
In the PNW these don't hold up so well
DnDAnalysis@reddit
I broke my tailbone on one of these.
SWMDad76@reddit
Absolutely. I loved ours at school. Plenty of pieces to hide, tire swings, suspension bridges, etc. so great.
Purple-Sherbert8803@reddit
We had pea gravel instead of wood chips. Wood chips are for weakness
82skadoo@reddit
I played on these BEFORE they started splintering.
DeadRoseYepReally@reddit
Our city called it “Project playground” and I got to play on it a little bit before I outgrew the playground. Lost my little brother in there quite a bit.
ForagedFoodie@reddit
Honestly, for a second I thought i played on that exact one. This isn't Connecticut, is it?
comesinallpackages@reddit
They still look like this is Germany. This might actually be a photo of the one at the Munich Zoo lol.
Zestyclose-Ad-5305@reddit
YES!! My elementary school had one. In the early 90s, the town that I grew up in opened a park called “field of dreams” (it was in the woods, though?) and had almost the same playground in this pic.
JoeTRob1988@reddit
Yee yee!
youfunnyhoneybunny@reddit
Shout out the wood park at PS87, UWS Manhattan! it has since been updated but man was it a blast.
dry_in_chi@reddit
I feel like I played on this exact one. Togetherwood Park, Lombard Illinois.
VayGray@reddit
I helped build one in my Diversified Occupations class on 10th grade with a group of classmates and administrators. The best thing was years later being able to bring my Sister, almost a decade younger, then my first child to play at the same structure. I believe it's still there.
sfxer001@reddit
Yep.
TheDaddyShip@reddit
Wacky world, Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA
HonestCrow@reddit
That looks like the super deluxe luxury gold star model. Never got to play on anything above elite.
Plane_Jacket_7251@reddit
Oh man, these things were AWESOME!! But for some reason the lowest areas always smelled like pee.
Drcornelius1983@reddit
These were so fucking fun, absolute pandemonium. I remember seeing a kid taking a shit underneath one time.
sonyisda1@reddit
Yes and they all had those slides with like a 100 tiny rolling bars that would have gravel (and fingers) stuck in them
chillybew@reddit
somehow there was always a massive wasp nest in one of those towers
ooooooootreyngers@reddit
Omg yes. My favorite
elephantspikebears@reddit
I wished, but alas, only drove by them in other towns
Thisisace@reddit
Bob Leathers is a legend. I remember when his team came to town in the mid-1980s and built three playgrounds in our area- only one remains today. I believe his son Marc now runs Leathers & Associates. They built a beautiful playground at Cambier Park in Naples, Florida, using mulch instead of crushed rock and replacing pressure-treated lumber with Trex composite materials for a safer, more modern design. My kids love it
Palp18@reddit
Play? No. We went war on these.
More-read-than-eddit@reddit
Yes! Apparently they were all made by a company called leather and associates and I would LOVE for someone to make a coffee table book about them
ColonClenseByFire@reddit
Parents never took me but I take my kid all the time the the same one I grew up near
gaarkat@reddit
Yup! But I remember one of those being built, new, after they tore down the all-metal play equipment that I played on before that...
ilovepi314159265@reddit
This. Was. The. Best.
BIGepidural@reddit
Hi Ho Sliver Away!
johnnyclash42@reddit
splinter castle
MartialBob@reddit
No. This is what replaced the playground I used to use. This got replaced when we heard it was apparently cancerous.
water_tulip@reddit
I remember the summer before kindergarten my town came together to build one at our elementary school. Some parents volunteered to babysit us kids in a classroom while most parents built the playground. All the kids of parents who volunteered got to paint a handprint on the twisty slide.
Sadly, I can’t imagine this sort of community build ever happening in 2025.
M1k3Mal1@reddit
I never had one near by. But my son plays on one currently at a local park.
6thBornSOB@reddit
They built one of these in my township park just as I was getting into D&D (age 9-10ish).
Better than goddamn Disneyland when we’d beg someone/anyones Mom to take our band of dorks up to play for a few hours!
Chemical-Plan9536@reddit
Yes this one looks like the one from Naples, FL in particular
Dangerous_Midnight91@reddit
Still do! There’s one in Crescent City, Ca and Prosser, Wa (I think). Stopped with my kids and went back to tye beforetimes…
Jumpy-Second-4301@reddit
There's still one in the Beaches in Toronto!
Sharpshooter188@reddit
"Who dares approach Fort Kick Ass?! No girls allowed!" Good times.
azazel-13@reddit
I tried to kiss my crush under one of these in kindergarten. It did not go well! He ran away. 😆 The story didn't end there though. 15 years later we had a long, pleasant night of making out/cuddling after we had some drinks and then I ghosted him. Never viewed the story this broadly before this moment. Kind of funny.
CaptainObvious007@reddit
I helped build one in '98. They made all the football players volunteer.it was called the Imagination station. It looked just like this.
freybot@reddit
Had one in North Royalton, OH.
Killjoykarl10@reddit
We actually what one just like this in our town park lol.
Lower-Tomatillo-9513@reddit
Yes and it was amazing.
Suspicious-Twist6103@reddit
Very similar to the playground in Hudson, WI. Before they grew up I chased my girls around for hours on that structure. Good times.
ProMarket123@reddit
In St. Helena Ca
Apart_Pineapple2392@reddit
Fort fun, bad news, va. Tag with like 20+ kids was the greatest.
CaydeTheCat@reddit
I did not. I was from the metal playgrounds part of Ohio. But my kid got to grow up near Indian Boundary Park (in Rogers Park, Chicago) which looks exactly like OP's pic.
OneHumanBill@reddit
What's weird is that I never saw one of these until I was grown up and I had little kids. I never imagined that this was a thing for my generation.
Our playgrounds were rusty metal slides, creaky swings, rusty monkey bars full of tetanus, and those spinning death things. I would have killed a kid to get to play in one of these posh palaces.
butt_honcho@reddit
I helped build the one in my hometown when I was 12. The company that built them came into the schools and asked the kids what they wanted. Then they gathered volunteers and donations from the town to build it. My mom was in charge of the volunteers' childcare, and she signed a waiver so my sister and I could be gofers at the build site. I ended up helping with actual construction when they found out I already knew some techniques (my grandpa was a carpenter).
They tore it down ten years ago. The city had been neglecting it for years, despite a lot of folks (myself included) offering to volunteer to fix it up. There had even been a trust set up for its maintenance, but I don't know what happened to it. I'm still a little bitter about it.
I went in a few days before it came down and took some photos. This was one of the parts I built.
TollyVonTheDruth@reddit
Yep!
AlienDelarge@reddit
Not that big. There is actually one somewhat local to me like that though.
toebeanprophet@reddit
This was my favorite thing in the whole world but the nests/hives of bees were insane.
ChaucersDuchess@reddit
Nope, we had metal. My kid, though, she played on one of these ☺️
bgva@reddit
Kids Cove in Virginia Beach. Was a little disappointed when they tore it down and replaced it.
Lloydz2014@reddit
Looks like Transylvania 🤣
Ambitious_Nomad1@reddit
Me and my kids did and then some asshole burned it down…
Remote-Car-5305@reddit
There’s a good one at St Edward State Park in Kenmore, WA.
Lo452@reddit
Last year they tore the one down in my hometown and replaced it with new stuff. End of an era.
BlindMouse2of3@reddit
Still play on one of these with my kid. Our town has one.
BeeDub57000@reddit
Little Run Elementary in Fairfax, Virginia. Long gone now, but it will live my memory forever.
littlebigplanetfan3@reddit
Should have been West Virginia. Sorry I had to die vote.
AbjectQuiet3050@reddit
Yup only got to play there once while my mom was voting. I was so amazed.
nothing-relax@reddit
Oz Park, Chicago
ahoypolloi_@reddit
Yes and it was and remains a top 5 playground even after raising a kid of my own
Salty-Esq@reddit
Does a bear 💩in the woods?
Itchynipspickletits@reddit
Ah yes, the splinters
brendanl79@reddit
Split my scalp running underneath one age 5 or 6, needed stitches
RetailBookworm@reddit
Many of them, and they were great.
creamywhitemayo@reddit
Played on it as a kid, and when we got older we were using it after dark to smoke, drink, and fool around😂😂
There was also a cool water fountain that looked like a lion. But they took it out when they updated the playground 20ish years ago.
Rivas-al-Yehuda@reddit
I remember this fondly in the little town I grew up in. I recently drove out there to see if it was still there, but it had been replaced with a modern, multi-color composite playground. I was disappointed.
Appropriate_train841@reddit
there was a contest in the town I grew up in to see which elementary school would get it. Unfortunately, my school didn't win so I wasn't able to use it at recess, but this was the go to park outside of school hours.
TLD18379@reddit
Still do
tributetotio@reddit
This was actually the newer generation for me, we had a park with one of these but I was already a teenager then... I was more concerned with making out in the car at that point. The ones I grew up on were worse lol
RandyArgonianButler@reddit
Hell yes
artfully_dejected@reddit
I think exactly that one. Slide and tire-net thing around the other side?
OkBaconBurger@reddit
Yes. They built one at our school when I was in 3rd grade. They recently tore it down a few years ago. Such a shame. It was the best.
Apexnanoman@reddit
Is this the one around Corpus Christi?
walterrys1@reddit
Omg...castle park! We called it anyway
RynnReeve@reddit
My elementary school didn't have one, but my best friend's school did. My mom would take us together on the weekends. My bf loved it too because its was always too crowded for hwr to play on while she was in school
Entire-Order3464@reddit
Distinct memories of these as a kid in the early to mid 90s.
ThresholdSeven@reddit
I helped build the one in my home town in the 90s. It was common for the city to buy the supplies and volunteers from the community to build it.
HistoricalReason8631@reddit
These were after my time except for one very awesome park in the next town over. We still had separate slides, swings, monkey bars, chin up bars, sandboxes, giant tires, and geodesic domes.
NapaWhine@reddit
McBean Park, Lincoln CA looks just like that still. It is fun
MisRandomness@reddit
Hell yeah and I probably have some permanent splinters
BrattyTwilis@reddit
Imagine the wasps living in that thing...
😬
elphaba00@reddit
I didn’t, but my kids did. They tore it down this year and replaced it with a material that wouldn’t rot or implant splinters.
Bluevanonthestreet@reddit
We still have one in the town next to mine. Kids loved it when they were younger. It’s fenced in and shaded too which makes it really nice.
Important_Tennis936@reddit
Yes! My dad helped build the one at my elementary school <3
WrenchNRatchet@reddit
The game was always “get from point A to point B” in the weirdest most challenging way possible
sweetnourishinggruel@reddit
Regatta Park, Lincoln City, Oregon. Now I take my own kids when we’re in town, which is such a fun thing to share with them.
Tahdel2362@reddit
When I was really young I think I saw one of those playgrounds get built by volunteers on Sesame Street or another PBS show.
I wanted that playground at my school so bad.
joey_oaks@reddit
I grew up on the old school playground, the first time I saw one of these as a kid it totally blew my mind but we never had one nearby.
little_bird_vagabond@reddit
Lakewood NY, I think they razed it in the 90s
pawpawpersimony@reddit
Oh the splinters…
twirlerina024@reddit
There was something similar where I grew up. It had a log-rolling thing that I haven't seen anywhere else. It was a \~6 foot long log that rotated on a sort of spit, and there was a metal bar above it that you could hold on to while you tried to keep your balance.
the_kid1234@reddit
We still have one. There’s a new, plastic one as well but the mayor wants a group of volunteers to rehab the wooden one. I’m not sure if he knows quite how much in materials and how many hours it will take.
A-Helpful-Flamingo@reddit
I remember when they started putting those in! It was our favorite playground we got to go to on special occasions lol
Eric848448@reddit
My dad helped build one of those at my elementary school.
gummi-demilo@reddit
There was one on my preschool/K playground that was apparently built in tribute to a kid that died. Was too young to remember that aspect of it though, my mom told me.
neanderthalman@reddit
Yes. It wasn’t a castle though. It was a full on pirate ship.
Lucky_Louch@reddit
oh yeah. They had a great one in Vail CO i would play on all the time. it made my imagination run wild! Can't imagine its still there, was no doubt dangerous.
c_b0t@reddit
Yes, but only on special occasions. They were a great way to whack your forehead when running too fast.
p4rc0pr3s1s@reddit
Henrietta, NY
AnthrallicA@reddit
They built one of these a town over from mine back in the mid 90's. It was called Playground 2000.
HopelesslyHuman@reddit
The Enchanted Playground in Kane, Pennsylvania. My grandparents helped build it. I played on it many times knowing that. It was a lovely playground. And it always had that little piece of them for me, especially my grandpa who passed not long after.
I think it's still there in some fashion, almost 40 years later. I hope children still enjoy it. And it helps me to think that little piece of them is still there for all the kids who came after.
marcos_MN@reddit
Oh yeah. Half-foot splinters and a scorching steel slide, plus a bonus zip line that would crash into a plywood wall at the end.
Central Park, Roseville, MN. Late 1980’s-early 90’s.
twirlerblue@reddit
They took ours out a few years ago and replaced it with a plastic, multicolored playground.
Pleasant_Expert_1990@reddit
Heck yeah! The year after we moved into the neighborhood I grew up in (age 8 to 19) one of these was built by volunteers and donated materials. This was 1989. I visited in 2023, still looks great!
Blazenkks@reddit
One of the best parks in the area had a solid play ground “big toy”. Eventually it got remodeled into more of castle like the one in the picture but I think I was starting to age out of that kind of a playground by the time it happened. So just a bit. More memories of the jankier early 80’s style ones than the ‘90s castle like ones.
GrowthOutrageous685@reddit
Douglas Park in Miami