From Pottstown PA (thought this was interesting)
Roller skating today is looked on as an excellent way to combine fun and aerobic exercise. From the popularity it enjoyed in the 1880s, it is obvious that people, at least some of them, enjoyed it.
But many of that era thought roller skating was evil. Actually it probably wasn't that roller skating was evil, but the fact that it was done in skating rinks, buildings where young people were unsupervised and allegedly subject to potential evil influences.
This message that roller skating rinks were dangerous was delivered from the pulpits of churches all over the United States.
On Sunday, Jan. 18, 1885, the Rev. J.P. Miller, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Conshohocken, delivered a sermon that warned his flock to beware of the "folly and dangers of attending skating rinks." He used as his text Jeremiah 5:26, "For among my people are found wicked men; they lay in wait as he that seteth snares; they set a trap; they catch men."
More here-
http://pottsmerc.com/articles/2011/07/04/life/srv0000012207628.txt
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