Conneaut Lake Park - History

History

It opened as Exposition Park in 1892 to take advantage of the adjacent Conneaut Lake. It began as a picnic area like many other parks at that time. The first ride, a carousel, opened several years later, and was soon joined by other rides and a midway. In its early years, the park primarily served as a resort, with several hotels and a grand dancing pavilion. Unfortunately, many of the park's buildings were lost in a 1908 fire. In 1909 the buildings lost in the fire were replaced with new concrete block structures to decrease the fire risk. One of the new buildings was the Dreamland Ballroom which hosted concert and dance events.

The park was renamed "Conneaut Lake Park" in 1920 to reflect a move toward more amusements and rides. In the mid-20th century the park featured many of the same rides as other parks of the time.

In 1943, a large portion of the Hotel Conneaut was destroyed in a fire. The ghost of Elizabeth, a bride who supposedly died in the fire, is said to now haunt the hotel.

In the 1960s, the park opened "Fairyland Forest", using a combination of fairy tale characters and animals to help attract families and appeal to young children. Many similar attractions existed across the country at that time. Although popular, the area eventually fell into neglect and closed in 1985 and was replaced with Camperland in 1986.

By the 1990s, the park had fallen on hard times due to declining attendance and increased competition from nearby parks and closed for a year in 1995. In 1996, Ohio businessman Gary Harris bought the park and reopened it on July 4, but new problems arose the following year when he was convicted of tax evasion. To help extricate himself from his legal difficulties, Harris gave the debt-ridden park to the Conneaut Lake community in 1997, but later filed a lawsuit claiming that he held a 99–year lease on the park grounds and retained ownership of several rides. When that lawsuit was lost in 2001, ownership reverted to a court-appointed trustee.