In a world before places like Cedar Point and Blossom Music Center became what they are today, Chippewa Lake Park was a prime place for entertainment in Northeast Ohio.
“It was a very popular destination,” said Kathryn Elias of the Chippewa Lake Ohio Historical Society. “This place was very important because there wasn't any place else that could hold this many people. We're talking 50,000 guests could be here.”
The amusement park, located off of the Medina County lake, entertained thousands of visitors each year from 1878 to 1978, she said.
“You had amusement rides, you had arcade games, obviously you had restaurants,” Elias said. “There were … company picnics that would come here and they would basically take over the whole park for the day.”
There were also concerts and performances, from Benny Goodman, to Lawrence Welk, to Bob Seger and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
It was a place for young people to connect, Elias said.
“I even had a neighbor who used to tell me that she lived in Cleveland, and she would come down here with her girlfriends and that's how she met her husband,” Elias said. “In fact, there's a lot of stories of people who met at Chippewa Lake.”
The park’s popularity soared in the early 20th century when an interurban railroad opened from Cleveland to Seville, she said.
“Could you imagine, though, coming in from the interurban train,” Elias said. “You'd be getting off, and it was probably about 1920, and you’re wearing, especially the ladies, full regalia, because you got dressed up to come down here.”
But, the park’s popularity dwindled as more venues popped up across the region.
“Rides were very old. And even though they were well-maintained, they were still less attractive than the new kind that were up at Geauga Lake and Cedar Point,” she said.
After the park closed in 1978, community members took artifacts out of the abandoned park.
“They went in and saved it. They salvaged it and that's where a lot of the memorabilia is coming from,” she said.
In 2025, the historical society opened a museum in an old home near the park. They’ve been taking donations from the community, she said.
“People are, you know, getting older, they're cleaning out their closets, they are saying, what am I going to do with all this memorabilia?” Elias said. “Give it to us. We'll take it. We'll find a place for it.”
Several large pieces were recently donated, including a roller coaster car, a tumble bug and a ticket booth.
Elias hopes the donations keep coming.
“To remember, to reflect,” she said. “A lot of the people come in here to this museum, they look at these pictures, and they were maybe 10 years old when they rode these rides. And now this is important because it's bringing it back to them.”
The Medina County Park District recently opened up a walking trail and nature preserve nearby called the Tumble Bug Trailhead. The park plans to eventually connect the trail to the area of the park where the Tumble Bug ride once stood.
