Euclid Beach Park
Euclid Beach Park has closed (last season: 1969). This page covers its history and the rides it had.
- Location
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Opened
- 1895
- Closed
- 1969
- Rides listed
- 4
Euclid Beach Park was an amusement park on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, at East 156th Street and Nottingham Road. It operated from 1895 until it closed on September 28, 1969.
History
Cleveland investors incorporated the park in 1894 and modeled it on New York's Coney Island. In 1901 Dudley S. Humphrey and his family took over its management. They expanded the beach, added attractions and advertised "one fare, free gate and no beer." From around 1915 the park admitted Black visitors only on certain days, and its segregation policy drew protests in 1946.
Seven wooden roller coasters ran at Euclid Beach over the years. John A. Miller designed the New Velvet Coaster of 1909, later called Aero Dips, and the 1913 Derby Racer, later the Racing Coaster. The Thriller, designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck and built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, opened in 1924, and the park's Flying Turns was the second ride of that bobsled type ever built.
Attendance and income fell in the 1960s. In 1965 the park tore down Aero Dips and sold its Great American Racing Derby to Cedar Point, where it still runs as Cedar Downs, but Euclid Beach closed after the 1969 season. Its 1910 carousel went to Palace Playland in Maine and was later brought back to Cleveland. Most of the park is gone, but its arched entrance survives as a Cleveland landmark.
Sources
- case.edu/ech/articles/e/euclid-beach-park (Location at E. 156th St. and Nottingham Rd. on Lake Erie; incorporated October 23, 1894, patterned after Coney Island; Humphrey family management from 1901; 'one fare, free gate and no beer'; decline in the 1960s; closed September 28, 1969; arch declared a Cleveland landmark in 1973.)
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid_Beach_Park (Collinwood neighborhood; operated 1895-1969; seven wooden coasters (Switchback Railway 1896, Figure Eight, Scenic Railway, New Velvet Coaster/Aero Dips 1909, Derby Racer/Racing Coaster 1913, Thriller 1924 by Schmeck and PTC, Flying Turns, the second of its type); segregation and 1946 protests; 1965 removal of Aero Dips and sale of the Racing Derby to Cedar Point (now Cedar Downs); 1910 PTC carousel moved to Palace Playland, Maine, then returned to Cleveland; surviving arch.)
- rcdb.com/5245.htm (Defunct park on Lake Erie at East 156th Street and Nottingham Road, Cleveland; seven defunct wooden coasters: Thriller, Flying Turns, Derby Racer, Aero Dips, Figure Eight, Switchback Railway, Scenic Railway.)
Rides at Euclid Beach Park
Tallest first. Open a ride for its full stats and our write-up, or compare rides across every park.
| Ride | Type | Height | Top speed | Inversions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderhawk | Steel Inverted | 120 ft | 50 mph | 5 |
| Villain | Wood Double Out-and-Back | 120 ft | 60 mph | 0 |
| Big Dipper | Wood Out-and-Back | 65 ft | 32 mph | 0 |
| Wild Mouse | Steel Wild Mouse | n/a | n/a | n/a |