This past fall, I spent a day exploring the former sites of four historic amusement parks in Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, and Kent, including some of the earliest parks in the region. As you can see from my photos and descriptions below, some of these places presently have more remaining historical elements than others, but I thoroughly enjoyed visiting each of them and learning about their pasts!
As a friendly reminder, all of these park locations can be viewed on my interactive map!
This post will be divided into several sections, so if you’re particularly interested in one or more of these specific subjects, you can skip directly to those sections below using the follow links:
The village of Brady Lake (part of Franklin Township since 2017) was home to the small-but-memorable Brady Lake Park for over 50 years, and its former location was the first stop on my November outing. I was excited to see the area for myself after having watched the very interesting documentary “Seances & Slot Machines: The Story of Brady Lake Park,” and learning that a pavilion building and other smaller remnants still remain on the site! While this is not one of the parks with which I’m most familiar, it was a special experience for me to personally walk through and document a portion of the former park grounds.
Today, a portion of Brady Lake’s land is also home to a public park, which hosts several Special Olympics teams in Portage County. Some of the street signs surrounding the present-day park also pay tribute to the area’s history, so I recommend at least a drive through the neighborhood if you ever find yourself in the area!
NOTE: Much of Brady Lake Park’s original land is now occupied by private residences. If you visit this location, please be respectful of residents and their property.
As one of Northeast Ohio’s earliest amusement parks, High Bridge Glens and Caves does not receive its fair share of attention from Ohio amusement park historians in my opinion. There is a historical marker in the city park which now sits at the amusement park’s former site along the Cuyahoga River. A scenic footbridge is located in roughly the same spot as the one seen in photos from the 1890s. Despite the fact that the modern pedestrian bridge is a dead end due to the modern highway which cuts through the area, I recreated a few antique photos from the University of Akron fairly accurately (to the best of my understanding and ability), which to me was easily the most exciting part of this visit!
Just a few minutes away from High Bridge Glens (in a 21st-century car), the third stop on this day trip through history was Gorge Metro Park. Riverview Park began operating here approximately 10 years after the closure of High Bridge Glens and Caves. This park’s attractions included a roller coaster and a circle swing (likely similar to the one which preceded the Rocket Ships at Euclid Beach Park), as well as a roller rink and restaurant. In 1927, the Roseland Ballroom was built, and ultimately became the final surviving attraction from the park when it was relocated to Elizabeth Park in Akron following Riverview’s closure a few years later.
The 4th and final landmark I visited also had the most information available on site about its history as an amusement park. Most people who are familiar with the Akron area and its history will probably agree that Summit Beach Park (Originally named Lakeside Park) was Akron’s best-known amusement park. Billed as Akron’s “Million Dollar Playground,” the park once featured boating, roller coasters of impressive length for their time, and a variety of other rides and attractions, such as motorcycle stunt performances in the Motordrome. However, one of the best-remembered features of the park was its “Crystal Pool,” which was lined with mosaic tiles and reportedly the largest of its kind in the country!
One of the biggest highlights of my present-day visit to this location was the Summit Lake Nature Center. It is operated by the Summit Metro Parks in the former Firestone pump house building, which neighbored the amusement park, and which holds a surviving tilework fragment from the original Crystal Pool among its exhibits! The friendly staff at the nature center also told me about a very informative book on the park’s history (out of print, but commonly available secondhand), of which I have since acquired a copy: Summit Beach Park: Akron’s Coney Island.
In addition to the Summit Beach Park souvenirs which I was lucky enough to photograph at sunset at Summit Lake itself (pictured in the previous section), I found and purchased a few other vintage items for my collection (including artifacts from 2 parks which were not previously represented in my collection) while visiting Summit and Portage counties. Please take a look at the following photos and captions for details:
Bonus: Brady Lake & Geauga Lake memorabilia encountered at Mike’s Place!
One additional stop I made which was not directly related to amusement park history was Mike’s Place, a unique and fun restaurant in Kent. However, it seems like I can’t get away from amusement park history even if I wanted to (which I don’t), because the restaurant has memorabilia on display from both Geauga Lake and Brady Lake!
NOTE: Some of these photos were taken on a previous visit to Mike’s Place, but all are accurate to the current appearance of these memorabilia items.
If you’re still reading and have reached the end of this post, thank you very much for your interest! Please watch for further posts and announcements in the weeks and months ahead!
