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With it’s amazing array of roller coasters, Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio is often named (by park goers and industry professionals) as one of the best and most exciting amusement parks in the world. How did a park in a small Ohio town on the edge of Lake Erie come to such great renown? This article will look at the history of Cedar Point from its first ride up through the late 1950’s. These were the park’s formative years, where the groundwork was laid for all of the exciting innovations that we enjoy today.
Cedar Point’s first incarnation came in 1870 when Louis Zistel charged people a small price to ride his steamship (named the Young Reindeer) across Lake Erie to the white sandy beaches of Cedar Point. Once there, visitors could play in the sand or take a swim in the lake. Other entrepreneurs soon followed in Zistel’s waves and more and more people began to make Cedar Point a vacation destination. These new visitors expanded the area’s activities to include picnicking in the woods, camping and listening to the music of the local brass bands. As the popularity of Cedar Point grew, it got others to thinking and soon other ‘resorts’ began appearing along the shoreline. To ensure that they remained the people’s number one choice, the owners of Cedar Point erected a Grand Pavilion in 1888. (The Coral Dining Room stands on this spot today). The Pavilion provided guests with a place to listen to music, hear lectures or have a game of bowling. Other minor structures were built up around the Pavilion but soon one would be in place that would cement Cedar Point’s place in entertainment.
In 1892 the Switchback Railway towered over all other activities as the first roller coaster at Cedar Point. It stood nearly 25 feet high and reached a top speed of ten miles an hour. At the end of the ride, the cars had to be manually pulled back up to the top. Despite all of this excitement, people were coming in smaller and smaller numbers and the future started to look bleak. In 1897 though, George Boeckling came to town and inadvertently saved Cedar Point. Boeckling was a railroad man and he was searching for a way to make his railway more profitable. He decided that if there were more places to stop at, more people would be likely to ride his train. So with this thought in mind he formed the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company and bought the existing Cedar Point Park.
Boeckling immediately broke into action, repairing all of the standing structures while building many new ones. In 1901 he built the first hotel on the point, The White House. This proved to be such a success that within two years he had added seventy more rooms on. All of these people needed some sort of entertainment so in 1903 the 1,200 seat Opera House was opened. By 1904, Cedar Point had its second roller coaster, The Three-Way Figure Eight, a towering 46-foot tall monster. There were also several water attractions added on. While many resorts would have been content to rest on these achievements, Cedar Point continued to push forward. In 1905 the Hotel Breakers opened for guests. This 600-room hotel featured running water in each room, quite an unusual thing for resorts of this time period. During this year Boeckling not only made sure that people had a place to stay, he took care of the animals, too. The Shady Lagoons were created as a way to help control the mosquito population (which it did) but it also became one of the most scenic and popular parts of the park. It’s an area that you can still visit.
In 1906 Cedar Point took a major step toward moving away from ‘resort’ status and becoming a true amusement park as it opened its first midway. Visitors could enjoy the Box Ball, Shooting Gallery, House of Mirth, skating rink, Circle Swing, Chateau Alphonse and Cascades (what those last two attractions were is now unknown).
All of these new attractions meant the addition of new guests which obviously meant that more helped needed to be hired. One of the employees of Cedar Point in these early years was Notre Dame student Knute Rockne who worked as a lifeguard. Cedar Point continued to grow: In 1908 another roller coaster (The 53 foot tall, 60mph Scenic Railway), a new bathhouse (said to be the largest in the world), a massive steamship (The G.A.Boeckling) and other attractions came into use.
A non-ride related item that placed Cedar Point in the news occurred on August 31, 1910 when Glenn Curtiss set a then world record for the Longest Over-Water Flight (63 miles).
When America entered World War One in 1918, it made for some challenging times at the park (due to building material restrictions) but Cedar Point managed to creatively grow and prosper. In 1919 alone they added more than 60 concession booths and attractions. The park continued to grow, adding rides at a furious pace. What eventually slowed the park was not the Depression but the death of George Boeckling in 1931. One of the ways that they survived the Depression was by renovating part of the massive Coliseum and turning it into a dance hall. Consequently Cedar Point’s popularity shifted for a bit. It started to be known for not what they built, but who they had as Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and a host of others all provided entertainment at the park. This type of entertainment kept the guests coming right to the end of the decade.
As the 1940’s started, Cedar Point found herself with just one operating roller coaster; there were still a number of other rides for guests to enjoy, but those guests were starting to thin out. With the restrictions of World War II on travel, gasoline and other items, people could not easily flock to the resort as they once had. Still management continued to try and lure customers. In 1946, the oldest currently existing ride was introduced, the Midway Carousel.
The park’s downhill fortunes continued into the 1950’s. In 1951, the G.A. Boeckling Steamship was taken out of commission and the main roller coaster, The Cyclone was torn down. Although Kiddieland opened in 1952, attendance continued to drop. Finally in 1956 George Roos and Emile Legros bought the entire Cedar Point Peninsula with the intent of turning it into a housing complex. After some intense research though they had second thoughts and decided instead to pour money into the park to try and bring it back to its former glory. Their plan would go on to live beyond their wildest dreams.
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