I often fancy myself a beginner Urban Explorer. Over the years, one of the things I have grown to love, most, about Ohio and the Cleveland area are the immense amount of abandoned places that can be visited. Walking into a building, plot of land, or etc, that was once an integral part of the community and people’s lives is invigorating and humbling. I was no less in awe after a recent excursion my boyfriend and I took to visit the abandoned amusement park that was once near Chippewa Lake in Medina County, Ohio.
When I thinks of amusement parks, my mind drifts back to summers in Virginia where we would sometimes go to Lakeside Amusement Park, in Roanoke, Virginia, or to the New River Valley Fair, in Dublin, Virginia. It is a veritable buffet for the senses. Your eyes fixated on the pulsating and shimmering lights, rides, and people. Your ears are often overloaded with the sounds of buzzers and screams of delights. Your nose catches the whiffs of Funnel Cakes, corn dogs, and sweat. Your nerves are electric with the anticipation of what ride you will get on first and which ones will you be too afraid to try. It is electric made physical.
I had never been to Chippewa Lake Amusement Park, either when it was still running or after it was shut down. That is until last weekend. As we rarely stay home, on weekends, this was an outing that Karl had planned for quite a while and it would be another chance to take my camera along for the ride. So, let’s visit Chippewa Lake Amusement Park as it stands today.
Chippewa Lake Amusement Park: A short History
Tucked away in the quiet heart of Medina County once stood a place that shimmered with laughter, music, and the smell of popcorn drifting on the breeze. For over a century, Chippewa Lake Amusement Park was more than just a small-town attraction—it was a generational love letter to summer days, dancehall nights, and the fleeting joy of a coaster’s first drop. And like so many places dear to Ohio’s past, it eventually faded, leaving only echoes behind.
The story begins in 1878, when a man named Edward Andrews opened a simple lakeside retreat called Andrew’s Pleasure Grounds. It was rustic—a picnic grove, a steamboat, and the kind of roller coaster that had to be pushed by hand. But even then, it held a certain magic. With the rise of rail travel, the park became a day-trip haven for folks across Northeast Ohio, and that little patch of shoreline came to life with families, lovers, and laughter.
In 1898, the Beach family took the reins. Mac Beach, and later his son Parker, shaped the park into the thriving place so many Ohioans would come to remember. Alcohol was banned, but joy wasn’t. Under their care, the park blossomed into a classic 20th-century amusement park, with rides like the Big Dipper (a wooden roller coaster that became legend), a carousel, a Ferris wheel, flying cages, and all the charm of a bygone era. There were three roller coasters at one point—the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and the Wild Mouse—and every summer brought new memories under the sun or within the glittering lights of the park’s ballroom.
By the 1970s, though, the golden age was fading. Larger parks like Cedar Point were modernizing. Chippewa couldn’t compete. A company called Continental Business Enterprises bought it in 1969 with big dreams of transforming the park into a lakeside resort. But they never truly invested. The charm was still there, but the funds—and the future—weren’t. In 1978, after exactly 100 years of operation, Chippewa Lake closed its gates for good. No fanfare, no final parade. Just silence.
And that’s when it began to transform into something stranger—something hauntingly beautiful. For decades, the park sat abandoned. The rides rusted beneath overgrowth. The once-grand ballroom burned in 2002. But for urban explorers, amateur photographers, and nostalgia junkies (like me), it became a sacred ruin. It was the kind of place you could walk through and feel history brush against your shoulder. You could almost hear the screams from the Big Dipper or the splash of paddleboats on the lake.
For those of us from Northeast Ohio, places like Chippewa Lake aren’t just amusement parks—they’re time capsules. For queer people, especially those of us who came of age before mainstream acceptance, these parks were some of the first spaces where we could laugh freely, even if we weren’t out yet. They were a chance to feel normal, to flirt anonymously on the Ferris wheel, or to sway with someone in the shadows of a crowded ballroom.
So here’s to Chippewa Lake Amusement Park—a place that lived, died, and refuses to be forgotten. Because sometimes, the ghosts are the ones worth listening to.
Preserved History
Rides that time forgot
Preservation through Photography
Exploring and photography are two of my deepest passions and what makes the great is how well the often work together. Being able to see what once was and capture a photograph ensures those memories live on for others to experience. I, for one, count myself lucky at being able to see some of the places I have photographed. From iconic graffiti that surrounded our fair city of Cleveland to the bastions of summer memories, each have been a treasure to me.
I would love to hear any of your stories or see pictures of some of the forgotten places you have been able to photography. Drop me a comment below and tell me about the most memorable place you have been and photographed. Thanks to each and everyone of you, again, for being a part of GayintheCLE
Gay in the CLE 