In the early1850’s Geauga Lake, commonly referred to as the “Pond,” was a popular picnic site for local residents. In 1872, Sullivan Giles constructed a dance hall on the northern side of the lake near the Erie Railroad “Pond Station.” In 1887, on the southern shores of the “Pond” Alexander Kent began to construct a summer resort and in 1888 opened the Kent House Hotel. From that point on “Geauga Lake” became a popular resort area mainly for families wanting to escape the urban environments of Cleveland. The resort included all of the attractions of the typical 1890’s resort: picnicking, fishing, boating, dance hall, roller-skating rink, campgrounds, and baseball diamonds. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that the resort began to take on the appearance of an amusement park.

Between 1924 and 1925 William Kuhlman invested heavily enlarging the park’s amenities to include tennis courts, horseshoe pits, shooting gallery, midway games, and rides. The “Big Dipper” originally called the Shooting Sky became a major attraction. It cost $50,000 to build this 2,800-foot long wooden roller coaster, which was the largest at the time. Other rides included a carousel, Whip, Dodgem, Aerial Swing, and miniature railroad. The only item left incomplete was the mammoth Olympic-sized swimming pool. The pool, Ohio’s largest at the time, was completed in July 1925 to the enjoyment of visitors. The following July, Johnny Weissmuller broke the world record in the 220-yard freestyle at the pool. While he is best known for his role as Tarzan, Weissmuller was an Olympian in 1924 and 1928, winning five gold medals in the Summer Olympics. The Marcus Illions Carousel with 64 hand carved horses was added in 1926. In 1931 Willie “Young” Stribling set up his training camp at the Park in preparation for his fight with heavyweight championship Max Schmeling. The fight was held in Cleveland and was the first to be broadcast nationally on radio. Geauga Lake Amusement Park was one of only 500 amusement parks out of 1500 nationwide that survived the economic hardships of the “Great Depression.”

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