Conneaut Lake Park
| Conneaut Lake Park | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Image with the park's logo |
||||
| place | Conneaut Lake ( USA ) | |||
| opening | August 15, 1892 | |||
| surface | 200 hectares | |||
| Website | official homepage | |||
|
||||
_location_map.svg)
Coordinates: 41 ° 36 ′ 8 ″ N , 80 ° 18 ′ 24 ″ W.
Conneaut Lake Park is a historic theme and amusement park in the northwest of the US state s Pennsylvania . Opened on August 15, 1892, it is near the Conneaut Lake community, after which the park is named. It is popular with nature lovers and amusement park enthusiasts alike.
history
Conneaut Lake Park was originally founded by Colonel Frank Mantor as a recreational and exhibition park. Before that, there was a private boat dock for enthusiastic fishermen in the same place. Its owner, Aaron Lyce, bought 7 hectares of land for his boat facility . Colonel Mantor and his company, the Conneaut Lake Exposition Company , acquired 175 acres of land directly adjacent to Mr. Lyce's property in 1892. Colonel Mantor signed 75 acres over to Mr. Lynce as payment for the lakeshore land.
First, farm animals , agricultural machinery, and industrial products from western Pennsylvania were on display. However, the exhibition park was only accessible by boat. Wealthy visitors and day trippers were transported to the park on huge, luxurious paddle steamers . To entertain the visitors, a dance and music pavilion and a bathhouse were built on the lake shore in 1898. A former farmhouse of Mr. Lynce has been converted into a hotel, the Echo Hotel . In 1899 the first mechanical carousel was set up. In 1901 the resort changed hands for the first time: In order to be able to transport more visitors to Conneaut Lake in a comfortable and safe way, the Pittsburgh & Shenango Valley Railroad took over the park and built a rail line for trams . In 1902 the historic roller coaster "Figure Eight Toboggan Slide" was opened (it was later renamed "Jack Rabbit"), in 1903 the "Hotel Conneaut" opened. The number of amusement park attractions and hotels increased rapidly over time, and Conneaut Lake Park enjoyed increasing popularity and notoriety. 1907/08 opened a race track for horse and motorcycle races . In 1997, The Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park Incorporation took over the park, and the organization has owned it since then. The amusement park had to close repeatedly due to bankruptcies , and many of the original attractions fell victim to fire accidents and destruction during World War II .
Conneaut Lake Park today
Today Conneaut Lake Park has a total of 28 attractions, primarily roller coasters, bumper cars and carousels. Many of the original rides have been preserved, modernized and made safe to use. The park is home to one of the oldest ghost trains in the United States, called "Devil's Den". It was opened in 1968 and has since been restored and renovated several times. The ghost train is not only of historical value, it houses a curiosity: a chewing gum wall that was created by amusement park fans in protest and still exists today.
literature
- Michael E. Costello: Conneaut Lake Park . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston 2005, ISBN 0-7385-3779-9 .
- Jim Futrell: Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania . Stackpole Books, 2002, ISBN 0-8117-2671-1 , pp. 79ff.
Web links
- Official homepage of the amusement park (English)