The front page of the Feb. 2, 1968, edition of The Marietta Times had several stories with lasting impact on the city.

In the news business you have slow news days, normal days and days where it seems impossible to get everything in one edition.

At first glance Feb. 2, 1968, looks like it might have been somewhere in the middle, but several small stories on the front page would end up having broad, long-lasting effects on the area.

Marietta City Council had met the previous night and voted to acquire 26 acres of land on Harmar Hill. The purchase fit into their plan to build a fire station on top of the hill to serve the growing number of houses being built there.

The city paid $50,000 for the land that would first be used to construct the firehouse that is still in use along Lancaster Street.

The land behind the firehouse would be developed into a new park for the community. Originally known as Lookout Park, it was later renamed Goldstar Park. Today it is a well-used park that not only features a variety of military monuments, but also a broad range of recreational opportunities.

During summer months it is not uncommon to find dozens of people from multiple generations using the park. A well-used playground anchors one corner of the park. Tennis and pickle ball courts can be found along the edge of the park near Fairview Lane.

A few years ago, the city constructed a half mile walking path around the park that provides people a safe place to get in some steps, and some hills, near home.

Located around the park, and thus near the walking trail, is a nine-hole disc golf course. Two of the holes take advantage of nearby trees to make shots more challenging. Walkers and golfers frequently chat as they make their way around their respective courses.

The park is a true asset for Marietta.

Also being announced on that February day 58 years ago was the fact that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had ordered the closing of the railroad bridge the previous day.

The bridge is now referred to as the Historical Harmar Village Bridge, but on that day, it was an old, little used bridge that the railroad planned on removing at some point. The city immediately closed the sidewalk of the bridge.

The Times reported “B&O officials said putting the railroad bridge in good working condition would probably cost an ‘enormous’ amount and that it would likely be economically infeasible, according to H.I. Walton, superintendent of the B&O Ohio and Newark division. Watson said he would be afraid to open the bridge’s turn span, which hasn’t been operated for many years.” The railroad was at the time considering removal of the bridge.

The bridge, of course, lived to see another day. For decades it provided a pedestrian link between the two sides of the river before being closed because of the condition of the bridge. It is now owned by Historic Harmar Bridge Company, which is hoping to raise enough funds to one day relink the two sides of the river with a pedestrian walkway that will use part of the existing structure.

A third story on the page was the approval for a special referendum to be placed on the ballot “I move that the petitions of Wolf Creek District to be transferred to Warren District be certified to the board of elections for submission to the electors of Wolf Creek School District at a special election to be held April 3,” said Oliver Ormiston in a motion made at a Washington County Board of Election meeting.

Voters rejected the idea, and Wolf Creek remains independent of Warren, or the Fort Frye district.

The three stories are a great example of how on even a fairly slow news day there can be community information in the newspaper that may affect our communities for years to come.

Art Smith is online manager of The Marietta Times and The Parkersburg News. He can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com.