The ongoing draw of roller skating goes back centuries. A 2017 article from Mary Bellis at the website ThoughtCo credits a Holland inventor with devising the idea of adapting ice skates to summer use by nailing wheels onto shoe soles in the 1700s.

By 1819, the invention was formalized with a patent in France.

The 1960s brought plastic wheels that made gliding smoother, and the 1970s and 1980s overlaid the pastime with glitzy light displays and thumping disco music.

Further, that era introduced the Rollerblade, which took the 2×2 set of wheels and aligned them in a row. The improvement precipitated advantages that include faster speed and a sharper stopping ability.

Blogger Nicole O’Donnell, contributor to Mommy Poppins, assessed roller-skating sites in the area and came away with a solid Montgomery County recommendation: Inline 309, 2117 Bethlehem Pike, Hatfield.

She characterized it as a “premier roller-skating rink that caters to both recreational and competitive skaters.”

Beyond this solid recommendation are a few other popular sites nearby for strapping on skates and going for a glide. They include:

• Ringing Rocks Roller Rink, 1500 Ringing Rocks Park, Pottstown
• The skate park at Black Rock Park, 286 Black Rock Road, Phoenixville, which (despite the address) shares the site of the police department and township buildings in Upper Providence.

More on Inline 309 and locations like it are at Mommy Poppins.

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A look at roller skating’s halcyon days, the 1950s.