Geauga Lake (Ohio) - History

History

First known as Picnic Lake, the Geauga lake area was home to early settlers such as the Staffords, Mark Patterson, Capt. Simon Henry with his wife Rhoda Parsons and their children, Charles Swires, the Brewsters, and Bohan Blair. There is currently a city park and ballfields on East Blvd. in Aurora, named after this lake. Geauga Lake is situated in lot twenty-eight, tract three, and is the head water of Tinker's Creek which empties into Cuyahoga river. The waters of this lake are very pure and of great depth.

Sullivan Giles, who chose the lake area for his log cabin in 1817, later built a large frame home on the spot behind Geauga Lake depot on the north side of the lake. When the railroad came to town in 1856, it made a stop at "pond station".

Giles took advantage of his scenic lake location and, in the last half of the 19th century, established picnic grounds, a dance hall, and other entertainment near his home for the all day pleasure of residents and those taking the train to the country for a getaway. On a bluff on the southeast side of the lake in 1888, the 75-room Kent House Hotel (later known as Hotel Grace) was built and operated by Alexander G. Kent. He presided over one of the finest ballroom dancing facilities in the area, located on the third floor of the hotel. The hotel was later destroyed by fire in the early 20th century.

The Cleveland Ice company located their buildings here, which were annually packed with many thousand tons of ice, which was mostly shipped to Cleveland for market during the warmer months.

Three professional baseball games were played at the park on Sundays (plus a Thursday exhibition game) in July and August 1888, by the Cleveland Forest Citys in the major league American Association before Sunday games were moved to Beyerle's Park closer to Cleveland in September 1888.

At the time, a full-sized steamboat circled the lake, towing a large scow, topped with a dance floor. The boat, first owned by William Banford and Rowe Fuller, was later purchased by the Kents. In 1907, the boat was shipped by rail to Brady Lake near Kent.

The Geauga Lake amusement park itself was established in 1887. Two years later the park introduced its first amusement-type ride and generated as much smoke as it did steam. Next, Kent added a roller rink, photo gallery, billiard hall and bowling alley. The bowling alley still stands and is currently home to the Aurora V.F.W. The roller rink still stands and is also known as "the old ballroom". The amusement park continued in operation until 2007 when the park closed forever. It then became a water park only, Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom. Geauga Lake was later removed from its name making it just, Wildwater Kingdom.