![[High rides at Euclid Beach Park]](big3.jpg)
Shown below, from left to right: the 1929 Miller/Bartlett Flying Turns, the 1924 Philadelphia Toboggan Company Thriller, the 1913 Miller/Ingersoll Racing Coaster (originally called the Derby Racer). Grateful acknowledgment is given to David W. Francis for use of this photo.
This article is by Russell Allon Hehr and is from The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
Euclid Beach Park, built on the site of the Cobb family farm between Collamer Ave. (E. 156th St.) and Ursuline Ave. NE, opened in 1895. A local trolley line ran to the gate on Lake Shore Blvd., providing access to the park in its early years. The 1,700-ft. sand beach and 75 acres of wooded parkland drew bathers and picnickers. Entertainment attractions were varied and constantly expanded. Opening day at Euclid Beach became a harbinger of summer for generations of Clevelanders.Nevertheless, the park was not an immediate success. The original investor group gave way in 1901 to the Humphrey family. The Humphreys, previously known in Cleveland as candy and popcorn manufacturers, brought Euclid Beach into its glory years. Inventive and industrious, they made the park into a family entertainment center. In order to counteract the reputation of parks and carnival midways as hotbeds of iniquity and sensationalism, the Humphreys determined that nothing in Euclid Beach would "depress or demoralize" their customers.
Further, they insured that nothing would physically injure their visitors by daily inspection of the rides. Finally, as an inducement to patrons, the Humphreys allowed free admission to the grounds and charged small fees for use of the attractions, among the more popular of which were LaMarcus Thompson's 1896 reprise of the Coney Island Switchback, the baroque-styled carousel, the Thriller roller coaster, the Flying Turns, the Log Cabin, the Surprise House, the lakefront pier and fountain, the maple-floored dancing pavilion, and the skating rink, complete with a rococo-styled Gavioli organ. Over 100 rides and concessions made Euclid Beach the epitome of amusement parks.
As the years passed, Euclid Beach Park changed. Trolleys were replaced by buses. Families in automobiles began to arrive more frequently. The park made provision to host these new guests. Even so, attendance began to decline after World War II. Slowly at first, and then with startling rapidity in the 1960s, the once-loyal patrons turned to other diversions. The park closed forever on 28 Sept. 1969. Following a series of fires, only the entrance gate, designated a historic landmark, still stood in 1986 as a memorial to past glories. Still, in 1985 Ohio created Euclid Beach State Park on the easternmost 16 acres of the old amusement park. Some vestige of the land's original purpose remained.