Sure, you know all about Cedar Point, but Ohio was once home to plenty of smaller amusement parks. From “trolley parks” to lakefront destinations, let’s take a look back at amusement parks that used to bring that Ohio summer fun back in the day.

Erieview Park Geneva-On-The-Lake In Geneva-On-The-Lake, Erieview Park was open from 1945 to 2006, operating 18 rides when it closed. The park consisted of a large waterpark area, Dodgem’ , a couple small roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, an arcade and more. Though closed, the park is still used for outdoor conventions from time to time. Meanwhile, two giant water slides continue to operate on the property under the name Wild Waterworks Waterslide. Credit: Erieview Park/Facebook
Euclid Beach Park Euclid Opened in 1895, the park was originally made in the image of Coney Island in New York City. The original attractions featured a theater for vaudeville acts and concerts, a beer garden, amusement rides and even gambling. The park turned from a place for adults to a place for families and kids throughout the first decade it was opened. The iconic carousel debuted in 1905, followed by rollercoasters and other rides. The park began its decline in popularity around the early 1960s before it eventually closed in 1969. The carousel is now at the Western Reserve Historical Society. Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
Geauga Lake Aurora We miss Geauga Lake Park just as much as you do. The park had a couple of different eras throughout its run, the first one being from the opening in 1887-1969 when it was a small park with The Big Dipper, a steam-powered carousel, a race track, bowling alley and dance hall. That era ended with a fire in 1969. The park was sold to Funtime Incorporated and began to grow into a much larger operation. The Gold Rosh log ride, the Corkscrew, a paddleboat marina, a tsunami wave pool and the boardwalk were added. When the Corkscrew opened, the park became one of the only amusement parks in the world to have two looping coasters. In the next decades, they added the Raging Wolf Bobs roller coaster, the Mind Eraser, a larger area for children called Rainbow Island and the Euroracer Grand Prix. The park became Six Flags Ohio in 2000 and that lasted until 2004, when it was sold to Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point, before it closed in 2007 due to declines in attendance and plans for redevelopment of the land into homes. The city of Aurora recently announced plans to develop purchase the remaining unused land and renovate it into some sort of attraction. Credit: Patrick McGarvey/Flickr
Gordon Gardens Cleveland Gordon Gardens opened in 1892 at Gordon Park in Cleveland and closed in 1927. There was a roller coaster of the same name that overlooked Lake Erie. The park was located next to the old Lake Shore Power Plant on East 72nd Street between the lake and the New York Central railroad tracks. The Big Dipper of Geauga Lake was originally located here. Credit: Cleveland Memory Project
IIdora Park Youngstown Idora park was originally opened as a trolley park in 1899, an amusement park built at the end of a trolley line, which was a a popular concept around that time. The park consisted of rollercoasters called The Wild Cat and the Jack Rabbit, Kiddieland, a ballroom, a haunted house called Kooky Castle, bumper cars, Scrambler, open-air rocket ships, a penny arcade, mini golf, a shooting gallery and a small passenger train that traveled through the park. Idora Park was located on the south side of Youngstown and closed after a fire in 1984, although the park experienced economic decline during the previous decades. There have been plans to reopen the park since the 1984 fire but those have yet to materialize. Credit: Idora Park/Facebook
Luna Park Cleveland Luna Park, which was a chain that at one time had 44 locations, operated in the Mt. Carmel and Woodland Avenue neighborhoods from 1905 to 1929 and was known as a trolley park. Boasting roller coasters, carousels, a fun house, a Ferris wheel, a roller rink, a concert and dance hall, bumper cars and many other attractions, the park nevertheless partially shut down due to prohibition and loss of revenue from alcohol sales. The Luna Bowl, a stadium on the grounds, remained open until 1938 and hosted Cleveland Negro League Baseball teams and American and National Football League teams. Fun fact: Luna Park was the second park in the country to have electrical lighting throughout the grounds. Luna Park was considered the main competition to Euclid Beach Park in the first half of the 20th century. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Meyer’s Lake Canton In Canton, Meyer’s Lake was open from 1880 all the way to 1974, making it one of the longest running amusement parks in the state’s history. Located on Meyers Lake, the land was used as a Native American encampment and was a good spot for fishing before the amusement park was established. First, a hotel called the Lake Park Hotel was built in 1869, followed by the Eclipse Boat Club and by 1880, there were dance halls, a skating rink, bowling alleys and pool halls. President William McKinley made multiple trips to the park, and many famous big bands made trips to play there in the early part of the 20th century. A fire destroyed most of what was left of the property in 1979, five years after closing. Credit: Meyer’s Lake Amusement Park/Facebook
Puritas Spring Park Cleveland Puritas Springs was open in Cleveland from 1900 to 1958. The park, which was established on the land that was originally used as a bottling plant for Puritas Springs water, was developed by the Cleveland, Berea, Elyria and Oberlin Railway Company. The Cyclone, the fastest and best roller coaster in Cleveland at the time, was the most popular attraction here.There was also a roller skating rink featuring a popular band organ, three different dance halls, a carousel and other rides. The land eventually turned into housing. Credit: Western Reserve Historical Society
Scenic Park Rocky River/Lakewood Scenic Amusement Park, located on the Rocky River/Lakewood border, opened in the late 1800s. The park, which was originally intended to unite the suburbs of Lakewood and Rocky River, had a dance hall, rides, park grounds, a theater and beer gardens. It was considered a trolley park — a place to go at the end of a trolley line connected to a major city, which was a popular concept at the time. Another main attraction was a mile-long scenic railway. Scenic Park closed in 1917 and eventually turned Into part of the Rocky River Reservation, part of the Metroparks. Credit: Cleveland Historical Society
SeaWorld Aurora While SeaWorld was known worldwide, there were actually only four locations in the United States. Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio’s SeaWorld parks are still open while the Aurora location closed in 2000. (The park became Wildwater Kingdom which closed in 2016.) The suburb is now in the midst of an effort to buy old SeaWorld and Geauga Lake land to maintain public access to the water as well as some of the original structures for new uses. Credit: Jeremy Thompson/Flickr
Summit Beach Park Akron Summit Beach Park, also known as “Akron’s Fairyland of Pleasure,” opened in 1917. The park, which was founded by the Menches Brothers, who also lay claim to the invention of the hamburger, averaged over 25,000 customers a day at its peak and was open for 40 summers before closing in 1958. The park was known for its rollercoaster The Whip, in addition to many other attractions like the Steeple Chase, scenic river, dance hall, roller rink, penny arcade, shooting gallery, swimming beach, pony ride and another roller coaster called Over The Top. The Crystal Pool at Summit Lake was another big draw and was the biggest tile pool in the world at one time. Credit: Summit Beach Park
Vollmar’s Park Bowling Green Vollmar’s Park opened in Bowling Green in 1900 and operated until 1948. It was reopened in 1963. Built on the banks of the Maumee River, it included a roller skating rink, a small coaster, bumper cars, square dancing and more. There was also a dance hall and hotel that hosted weddings and other events. Due to rising costs, the park had to close in 2001. Credit: East Toledo Historical Society/Facebook
Walbridge Park Toledo The land that eventually became Walbridge Park was originally purchased by the City of Toledo in 1871 and was called Riverside Park, which contained greenhouses, bath houses and pavilions, and areas for boating and swimming. The amusement park opened in 1899 and contained a penny arcade, bowling alley, pool hall, dance hall, roller coaster, merry-go-round, silent movie house and photo gallery. Maumee River Yacht Club also opened on the land in 1899. There was also a zoo that basically just had one bear but it eventually became the Toledo Zoo. Packed streetcars ran from downtown to the park. Most of the amusement park burnt down in 1938 but it was reopened a year later and remained popular throughout the 1940s, when new rides were added. Unfortunately, due to dredging of the river, the area wasn’t as pretty, attendance declined and vandalism became a problem. It closed in 1957 and was demolished in 1959. The city renovated the land in the 1980s and it remains open as a beautiful park alongside the Maumee River today. Credit: Walbridge Park History
White City Amusement Park Cleveland This slice of land has gone by many names — including White City Park, Manhattan Beach — and was the site of many amusement parks in the early 1900s as various businesses gave competing with Euclid Beach Park a go. The most notable was White City Amusement Park, which shared a design with Coney Island in New York. Featuring a midway, a boardwalk, and rides, the park, and the ones that came before and after that, never succeeded. White City also hosted baseball games, had a bowling alley, a dance hall, a scenic railway and a beach. The park charged admission which was different from Euclid Beach Park and that may have led to it failing to gain significant crowds.It was located on the lake on land just east of Bratenahl and was converted to a city park and then the White City and Northeast Yacht Clubs in subsequent years. Credit: J. Mark Souther Postcard Collection
Woodland Beach Ashtabula In Ashtabula, Woodland Beach Park was open from 1884 to 1952. The park was first opened by the Ashtabula and Lake Shore Railway Company, which was then sold to the Pennsylvania and Ohio Railway Company. It was a popular destination for people from Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad offered weekend and holiday trips to Woodland Beach. The amusement park was known for the Figure Eight rollercoaster and was one of the best amusement parks in the state at the time. Credit: Woodland Beach History/Facebook
Crystal Beach Vermillion Also known as “The Park of 1,000 Trees,” Crystal Beach was established in Vermillion in 1907. The park consisted of a merry-go-round, a shooting gallery, an ice cream parlor, many amusement rides, a boat rental area to head out on Lake Erie, a bowling alley and even a water toboggan slide. In 1925, an elaborate, ornate dance hall, considered to be the nicest hall in the Great Lakes, was built. In 1947, a fire burned down a major part of the park. It was the beginning of the end for the beloved destination, which closed in 1962. Credit: Provided photo

Scene's award-winning newsroom oftentimes collaborates on articles and projects. Stories under this byline are group efforts.