Abandoned amusement parks

Posted by Ivica Miskovic | Sunday, October 12, 2008 | | 10 comments »

Chippewa Lake in Ohio

Chippewa Lake (formerly Chippewa-on-the-Lake) is a village in Medina County, Ohio, United States. It is located on Chippewa Lake, Ohio's largest natural inland lake. The population was 823 at the 2000 census."Chippewa Lake" is sometimes applied to the surrounding area, even the village of Gloria Glens Park.

In the 1880s, Oscar Townsend and the Cleveland, Lorain, & Wheeling Railroad developed a prosperous vacation resort, eventually called Chippewa Lake Park, on the banks of Ohio's largest natural lake. The Great Depression and extinction of interurban rail service crippled the park, but in 1937, Parker Beach purchased the resort, and it enjoyed a swinging Golden Age through 1969, as he kept the park's ballroom filled with dancers and famous bands. In 1978, after more than 100 years of operation, Chippewa Lake Park joined the ghostly ranks of the last traditional amusement parks.

credited to defunctparks.com

10 comments

  1. Anonymous // October 12, 2008 7:43 PM  

    how the heck did you get in there to take the pictures? I would have thought it would have been roped/chained off.

  2. Anonymous // October 12, 2008 8:35 PM  

    ^^^When has that ever stopped anyone, retard?

  3. Bunny got Blog // October 12, 2008 8:42 PM  

    This is truly incredible. To think it was just left and not made into a museum is very sad.

  4. hans // October 12, 2008 9:05 PM  

    take a look at my pics of the abandoned fun park in Pripyat, near Chernobyl, Ukraine:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanszinsli/sets/72157603745196181/

  5. Heidi / Savory Tv // October 12, 2008 9:38 PM  

    Great photos, although quite spooky!

  6. Anonymous // October 13, 2008 2:07 AM  

    These are old photos. I saw them at least a year or two ago. Never the less they do show how quickly nature repairs itself.

  7. Anonymous // October 13, 2008 3:13 AM  

    A similar fate happened to the Buckeye Lake amusement park in Buckeye Lake Ohio, which is east of Columbus. These were great places to go in their primes.

  8. Dan // October 13, 2008 6:23 AM  

    Thanks for this. I grew up going to "Chip" on weekends 45 years ago.

  9. hmshore // October 13, 2008 3:22 PM  

    Nice comment. No wonder you posted under anonymous. Seems to be that people who call others retard shouldn't feel the need to hide on the internet. LOSER!
    Anonymous said...
    ^^^When has that ever stopped anyone, retard?

    October 12, 2008 8:35 PM

  10. coach sydney // February 23, 2009 7:04 AM  

    neat pics and I love the background on the park.One can nearly hear ghostly squeals of delight. I hope there remains a joyful aura surrounding the area.