A lot of interest has been shown in Jeff Geyhart’s request for me to write about an ice cream shop on Park Street. Jeff recalled that his dad took him there when he was very young.
Since there were so many Sound Offs about Park Street Ice Cream, I am not certain that I need to write about the business so Jeff can prove to the guys that there was such a place. Yes, it had great ice cream, probably the best in town, and it was on Park Street and people would stand in line to get that ice cream.
The recipe for the ice cream made on Park Street can be traced to Odin C. Schmidt of Trenton. Sometime around 1923, Odin, often spelled Odion, Schmidt opened a grocery in the Littell-Taylor building on the corner of State Street and Overpeck Road. At some point, he added homemade ice cream to his stock. With flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and nectar, a variation of strawberry that Odin originated, Schmidt’s became well known throughout the county for its excellent ice cream, with nectar being by far the most popular.
Credit: ANDREW SCRIVANI
Credit: ANDREW SCRIVANI
In 1944, Schmidt retired and the building was leased to Clarence “Dick” Lovelace. Henry and Joseph Ledford, who sold a limited number of groceries and that good ice cream, were the next users of the building. Next to run a business in the building was Charles R. “Charlie” Asher, who had a small restaurant that sold sandwiches and ice cream.
About 1950, Asher purchased the Miami Valley Frosted Foods business, located at 204 Park St., from Floyd Hartog. Asher and his wife, Helen, operated this business as Miami Valley Locker Service. They rented frozen food lockers, processed some meat and started making ice cream.
Sometime in the early 1960s, Don M. Johnson and his wife, Beulah, became the owners of Miami Valley Locker Service. They continued to make and sell the great ice cream and opened a store known as the Maple Park Street Ice Cream Store at 3002 Tytus Ave. It operated for several years, but the main store was the store on Park Street, which gave its name to the ice cream.
People discovered that Park Street Ice Cream was the best homemade ice cream that could be found. They waited in long double lines, one going in each direction, to get their own special flavor. Those included Blue Moon, Tutti-Frutti, Lemon, Red Indian, Black Walnut, and others. The ice cream was always very cold, which made it taste very good.
The store was located in the same building as Union Sanitary Cleaners on the southwest corner of Park Street and Second Avenue. The very thick milk shakes were another special treat from the store. One time a milk shake that was being made was dropped. It was in one of the metal cups that was used with the shake machine. It hit the floor straight down and since it was so thick, it never spilled a drop.
About 1964, Johnson made the largest Popsicle in the world as recorded by “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” It was red and about as hard as concrete. It was made for the youth group at Zion Lutheran Church. The young people chipped pieces off it and made snow cones. Johnson also made a very large banana split for the same youth group.
The ice cream business became so busy that the meat processing and locker plant was given up. Don Johnson believes that by 1961, he was selling 201,000 to 202,000 ice cream cones a year at 5 cents a dip. He did raise the price to 8 cents for a single dip and 15 cents for a double dip cone.
During the more than 15 years that he operated the business, Johnson had mostly very good help. Four or five high school boys were hired to serve the ice cream. One of these boys would give his friends an extra amount of the ice cream. Johnson helped the boys and some remember him.
There was a second store located in a small strip mall at 2810 N. Verity Parkway. Johnson made the ice cream for this store, while Donald Wilson operated it. Park Street Ice Cream was also available in Mason and Trenton.
Many things led to the closing of the Park Street store. There were some problems with breakins and robberies, but one of the big problems was the city that insisted that he had to relocate because of the planned Second Street Connector. The Second Street Connector was to involve widening the street and taking it over the railroad tracks at University. Naturally, this never happened, but the building was torn down.
Don Johnson is now in the real estate business and says that many times when he has an open house that people comment on how they raised their kids on Park Street Ice Cream.
Roger L. Miller is a Middletown resident
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