The story of GEAUGA LAKE (Jee-AH-guh) starts just that way. Image: Boston Public LibraryĪcross the Midwest, meanwhile, “trolley parks” – often built by trolley companies at the end of town streetcar lines to increase weekend ridership – soon appeared, often built around “sunlite pools,” dance halls, and race tracks. So it’s no surprise that in the early 1900s, the country’s coastlines sprung to life with seaside boardwalks and pleasure piers, each lined with vendors and amusements built to attract wandering beachgoers. ![]() But long, long before the conventions of the modern “theme park” were born by way of that little fantasy park in Anaheim, California, America was still dotted with places built for fun.Įven by the turn of the century – 50 years before Disneyland! – increasing automation and a second wave of the Industrial Revolution had given many American families something entirely new: leisure time. It’s true that Walt Disney’s 1955 park was a landmark, and that he and his Imagineers quite literally wrote the rules as they went. How did Six Flags and SeaWorld find their way to Aurora, Ohio? How did they combine? Who’s responsible for the death of “the world’s largest amusement park”? Sit back, settle in, and join us for the epic tale of Geauga Lake…Īnd before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning… A Most Charming Placeįor many fans of the “themed entertainment” industry, all roads tend to lead back to Disneyland. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure burned bright and fast, and in its smoulder, it also burned down 120 years of history. Mega-coasters, killer whales, dizzying flat rides, a Batman water ski show, dolphins, log flumes, waterslides, tigers, penguins, and motion simulators for one price, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure stood a chance at becoming the best amusement park on Earth… and more to the point, a fitting rival for Cedar Point just an hour and a half west…īut less than ten years after it debuted, the 300-acre property was bulldozed out of existence. But its story is one that sounds too wild to be true: a full-sized Six Flags and a full-sized SeaWorld, facing each other across a spring-fed lake that – literally overnight – merged into a single, gargantuan super-park. You may never have even heard of the little amusement park nestled into the hillsides southeast of Cleveland, Ohio. Though Park Lore’s collection of Lost Legends is stocked with the stories of beloved theme park favorites of yesteryear, there’s no story as staggering as that of Geauga Lake. From historic dark rides to classic coasters beloved landmarks to entire parks, sometimes, no amount of history, nostalgia, legend, or love can save a classic. ![]() Year after year, season after season, traces of amusement parks past flicker out of existence.
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