The Decaying Memory on the Lake: Chippewa Lake Park

In high school, I was flipping through my favorite literature, Weird Ohio, to find oddities around Ohio. One section about abandoned places brought up an amusement park called Chippewa Lake. I asked my mom about this, and she mentioned going there as a kid. Over the years, I have searched online through Wikipedia and YouTube videos to discuss the park. I even thought about driving down to Chippewa to see for myself, but I still need to do so. 

Chippewa Lake is probably one of the first images that comes to mind when one thinks of an abandoned amusement park: overgrown trees covering decaying rides rusting away. I’ve been aware of the park for years and have thought of visiting. Serving as a sort of unofficial centerpiece to the abandoned park is the bare frame of the Ferris wheel. 

Now, let's first talk about the origins of Chippewa Lake.

14,000 years ago, a lake appeared due to melting ice glacier sheets traveling northbound. Over thousands of years and long before settlers, Native Americans, known as the Chippewa tribe, occupied the land. Eventually, they would also drive early settlers and entrepreneurs with big plans. One of them had big plans, which Edward Andrews made. 

Chippewa Lake Amusement Park

In 1875, entrepreneur Edward Andrews purchased the property along Chippewa Lake with plans to turn it into a park. The park opened in 1878 as Andrew’s Pleasure Grounds. It was only a picnic and swimming recreational area in the early years. Alcohol was permitted at the time and many parkgoers would get drunk and swim. The first roller coaster would be installed. Since this was an early period, the coaster manually got pushed back up the tracks every time it went down. Two decades later, the park was renamed Chippewa Lake Park. 

In 1898, Mac Beach purchased the park and had big plans to improve it. One of the first initiations was to ban liquor sales. This was bad news to the party animals who had gone there for the past twenty years. 

The rides Chippewa had running were the Big Dipper, Ferris Wheel, a miniature railroad, carousel, a funhouse, tumble bug, dodgem, Little Dipper, Himalaya, Flying Cages, Caterpillar, Flying Scooters, Octopus, a tilt a whirl, rocket ship, wild mouse, and a former grand trunk western caboose.  

The Tumble Bug is a ride going up and down on a circular track with 5 to 6 cars. Today, the only remaining Tumble Bug ride still in operation is at Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

There was also an archery range where people could test their skills. A Native American named Larry Lemoyne taught this range. 

The Decline 

In 1969, Continental Business Enterprises purchased Chippewa Lake and wanted to make an ambitious effort to turn it into a summer resort. Ironically, this was also the same year Euclid Beach closed. The plans, however, would save the park from its fate. 

Park's staggering attendance in its last decade of operation was due to the immense competition of Cedar Point and the now long-gone Geauga Lake. This little park was no match for these titans in Ohio as the highway construction paved the way for more convenient and faster travel.  With that, the park quietly closed in 1978, making it one hundred years after it first opened. 

For years, many of the rides were left standing and rusting away. The park would become overgrown with trees and bushes. One popular image many urban explorers would take of Chippewa Lake is a tree growing in the middle of a Ferris wheel frame. Over the years, some of the overgrown areas will be cleaned. The tree was removed from the middle of the Ferris wheel. 

Out in the front yard, there are some rusted ride vehicles from the park: one a roller coaster car and the other from the Tumble Bug ride. 

In 2002, the ballroom was destroyed by a fire. 

My first visit

My first visit (more of a drive-by) was when I decided to stop on my way to Mansfield Reformatory (I will tell that story another day). The cement mound on which the park sign was placed was still there. Tiny homes occupied the area, which had narrow gravel roads. A house had a sign that said Chippewa Lake Museum. There was a car from the ride Tumble Bug in the yard, with some plants growing inside, and a roller coaster car. 

A rusted chain fence was next to the house and lined acres of the perimeter to the former park. On the other side of the wall was wood debris from the ticket booths. For years, the ticket booths stood rotting away until, eventually, the roof caved in. I did not go into the park then as I had to get to Mansfield. 

My second visit

Fast-forward to a few days ago when I finally ventured onto the old park grounds, and stuff is progressing. The ride vehicles were still out on the lawn at the Chippewa Lake Museum. By the Chippewa Lake Museum, the remains of the ticket booth have been razed. Utility workers are also working on clearing out the land. Paths were formed for the vehicles to get through. Some wood debris was around. I’m not sure what structure it belonged to. There was also a rusted vehicle don't know what it was for possibly was a ground management vehicle.

Inside, a more wooded area with 3 Tumble bug tracks was rusting away, and the cars were disassembling on the ground. 

I saw the iconic rusted frame covered in greenery of the Ferris wheel, with a queue line intact and possibly a control panel. Back in the park's heyday, the Ferris wheel was notorious for going faster than a typical Ferris wheel. Many former parkgoers remember this speed demon. There is a YouTube video, and I will say this looks insane. 

Sadly, I did not get to the ballroom's melted support beams. I don't know if it’s still standing or if it was removed like the ticket booths. 

What is its future?

The best description of the land’s fate so far is some progress happening. There are plans to develop the land into a public park. There are some concept plans drawn out. One of them seems to have a sculpture  OR the carless Ferris wheel to pay homage to the land’s past. There are also mentions of signage around the park similar to Euclid Beach talking about Chippewa Lake.  

Residents of the Chippewa Lake area and around Cleveland still fondly remember this little park. My mom would also visit it a couple of times during her childhood. 

Links

Chippewa Lake Ferris Wheel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id_75qLsOF0

Chippewa Lake https://www.ohm-advisors.com/projects/chippewa-lake-master-plan