Description: This photograph shows people riding the Cedar Point roller coaster known as the "Corkscrew." As the roller coaster is traveling along the spiral track, the rear cars and passengers are upside down while those in the front cars are in an upright position. Cedar Point is both a peninsula in northern Ohio located along Lake Erie and an amusement park at the same location near Sandusky, Ohio. In the nineteenth century, Cedar Point was the site of a lighthouse and a port for fishermen. In 1867 the peninsula became linked to a small railroad. This transportation forever changed the rural area. Within a few years, developers began constructing facilities to draw tourists to the region, including bath houses and picnic areas. The amusement park claims 1870 as its first season, when the first bathhouse and other forms of entertainment were built. Cedar Point constructed its first roller coaster, the Switchback Railway, in 1892. By the 1890s, more people traveled to Cedar Point. When the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort & Company purchased the site in 1897, the firm paid $256,000. In the years that followed, more improvements were made at Cedar Point. New rides and attractions opened each year, and hotels offered overnight accommodations. In addition to tourists traveling by railroad, Cedar Point also welcomed visitors traveling by steamship from Detroit and Cleveland. Automobiles also brought greater numbers. Places like Cedar Point, Buckeye Lake, and Sandy Beach Amusement Park offered city dwellers the opportunity to escape the city heat in the summer. In the past few decades, Cedar Point has claimed a number of world records. In particular, the amusement park has become known for its roller coasters. In 1978, Cedar Point opened Gemini, which set records as the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world at that time. Gemini's record was surpassed by another coaster, Magnum XL-200, in 1989. Two years later, Cedar Point opened a wooden coaster named Mean Streak, which was the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world. These rides were followed in 1994 by the Raptor, the world's tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster, and in 1996 by the Mantis, the tallest and fastest stand-up roller coaster. Cedar Point surpassed all of its previous records in 2000, when it opened the Millennium Force. This roller coaster is more than three hundred feet high and once again set the record for the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world. Since 1978, Cedar Point has hosted an annual event called Coaster Mania that attracts roller coaster fans in large numbers. The park claims to be the “Roller Coaster Capital of the World” With its roller coasters and other features, Cedar Point has won numerous awards, including “Best Amusement Park” by Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards on several occasions. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06646
Subjects: Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio: Amusement park); Roller coasters; Amusement parks; Amusement rides; Tourism
Places: Cedar Point (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This 1964 photograph shows people riding the Cedar Point roller coaster known as the "Blue Streak." As the roller coaster is beginning its descent down a steep curve, the facial expressions of its passengers show their reactions. Cedar Point is both a peninsula in northern Ohio located along Lake Erie and an amusement park at the same location near Sandusky, Ohio. In the nineteenth century, Cedar Point was the site of a lighthouse and a port for fishermen. In 1867 the peninsula became linked to a small railroad. This transportation forever changed the rural area. Within a few years, developers began constructing facilities to draw tourists to the region, including bath houses and picnic areas. The amusement park claims 1870 as its first season, when the first bathhouse and other forms of entertainment were built. Cedar Point constructed its first roller coaster, the Switchback Railway, in 1892. By the 1890s, more people traveled to Cedar Point. When the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort & Company purchased the site in 1897, the firm paid $256,000. In the years that followed, more improvements were made at Cedar Point. New rides and attractions opened each year, and hotels offered overnight accommodations. In addition to tourists traveling by railroad, Cedar Point also welcomed visitors traveling by steamship from Detroit and Cleveland. Automobiles also brought greater numbers. Places like Cedar Point, Buckeye Lake, and Sandy Beach Amusement Park offered city dwellers the opportunity to escape the city heat in the summer. In the past few decades, Cedar Point has claimed a number of world records. In particular, the amusement park has become known for its roller coasters. In 1978, Cedar Point opened Gemini, which set records as the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world at that time. Gemini's record was surpassed by another coaster, Magnum XL-200, in 1989. Two years later, Cedar Point opened a wooden coaster named Mean Streak, which was the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world. These rides were followed in 1994 by the Raptor, the world's tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster, and in 1996 by the Mantis, the tallest and fastest stand-up roller coaster. Cedar Point surpassed all of its previous records in 2000, when it opened the Millennium Force. This roller coaster is more than three hundred feet high and once again set the record for the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world. Since 1978, Cedar Point has hosted an annual event called Coaster Mania that attracts roller coaster fans in large numbers. The park claims to be the “Roller Coaster Capital of the World” With its roller coasters and other features, Cedar Point has won numerous awards, including “Best Amusement Park” by Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards on several occasions. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06647
Subjects: Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio: Amusement park); Roller coasters; Amusement parks; Amusement rides; Tourism
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a roller coaster at Olentangy Park, an amusement park that was located on North High Street in Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1910-1930. Olentangy Park had a number of roller coasters, including the Whirlwind, the Figure Eight, the Red Devil and the Loop-the-Loop, which was one of the country's first looping coasters. The sign on this ride reads "Scenic Coaster." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04973
Subjects: Franklin County (Ohio); Cultural Ohio--Popular Culture; Amusement parks--Ohio; Roller coasters; Amusement rides
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Postcard showing the swimming pool at Indianola Park, Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1910-1915. Indianola Park was a 30-acre amusement park operated in Columbus’s University District at N. 4th Street and E. 19th Avenue. It opened to the public on June 8, 1905, and early visitors could enjoy a large swimming pool, a dance pavilion, a roller coaster, a restaurant and picnic grounds, and more. A vaudeville-style theater was added in 1908, soon to be followed by more roller coasters, a funhouse, and a “Shoot the Shutes” water ride. The park was also home to the Columbus Panhandles pro football team, serving as their home field between 1909 and 1915. During the 1910s and early 20s, Indianola hosted as many as 10,000 visitors in a single weekend, and could see up to 5,000 people enjoying its pool on hot summer days. But in the wake of the Great Depression and other cultural shifts, the park eventually shut down in 1937. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07733
Subjects: Franklin County (Ohio); Cultural Ohio--Popular Culture; Swimming; Amusement parks--Ohio; Roller coasters
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a crowd of visitors strolling through the midway rides at Olentangy Park, an amusement park that was located on North High Street in Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1910-1930. In the distance a roller coaster is visible. Olentangy Park had a number of roller coasters, including the Whirlwind, the Figure Eight, the Red Devil and the Loop-the-Loop, which was one of the country's first looping coasters. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04967
Subjects: Franklin County (Ohio); Cultural Ohio--Popular Culture; Amusement parks--Ohio; Roller coasters; Amusement rides
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This 8.5" by 11" (21.6 by 27.9cm) photograph depicts Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company employees before a baseball game at Idora Park on Labor Day in 1939. The company sponsored an annual outing. The "Jack Rabbit" roller coaster is visible in the background of the first image. Idora Park, also known as Terminal Park, opened in 1895. Some of its most popular attractions were the roller coasters called the "Jack Rabbit," the "Wildcat," and the "Baby Wildcat." The park featured a baseball field constructed for picnic groups. It was used by semi-pro teams on Sundays and holidays. In the 1920s the park hosted major league exhibitions and semi-professional games. The Cuban Giants from Brooklyn played in 1924 and a House of David team played against the local General Tires team in 1924. Several fires at the park contributed to its decline before Idora Park closed in 1984. In November 1900, a group of 55 Youngstown citizens, led by James A. Campbell, raised $600,000 in capital to create View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1628_1920415_020
Subjects: Arts and Entertainment; Business and Labor; Amusement parks; Sports & recreation facilities; Idora Park (Youngstown, Ohio); Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Baseball; Roller coasters; Steel industry
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Five photographs document Coney Island amusement park in the 1960s. The first three photographs were taken from the Sky Ride. A fourth photograph shows the Log Flume ride; the final photograph shows visitors walking along the midway. Established in the late nineteenth century on the banks of the Ohio River, Coney Island offered families a place to go for picnicking, dancing, refreshments and fireworks. The slides measure 2" x 2" (5.08 x 5.08 cm). In 1870, James Parker began renting out his apple orchard for Cincinnatians to ride horses and have picnics. When his apple trees died, Parker added a merry-go-round and pavilion and planted maple trees. In 1886 Parker sold the land to the Ohio Grove Corporation, which billed the site as "Ohio Grove: The Coney Island of the West," and immediately began attracting visitors from Cincinnati. In 1887 they changed the name to Coney Island. As the popularity of the park grew, other attractions, such as a Ferris wheel, the area's first movie theater, and roller coasters, were built. By the end of the 1920s, Coney Island was one of the largest amusement parks in the country. The park closed in 1971, but reopened on a smaller scale in 1999. It is located approximately fifteen miles east of downtown Cincinnati. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3059_3669999_001
Subjects: Transportation; Arts and Entertainment; Amusement parks; Amusement rides; Ferris wheels; Roller coasters
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: A group of swimmers posed in front of the roller coaster at Olentangy Park, an amusement park that was located on North High Street in Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1910-1930. At the time it was built in the 1920s, the swimming pool at Olentangy Park was the world's largest. It was several hundred feet long and could fit hundreds of bathers. The sand seen in the photograph was hauled in to the park to create a "beach-like" setting. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04975
Subjects: Franklin County (Ohio); Cultural Ohio--Popular Culture; Swimming; Amusement parks--Ohio; Roller coasters
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Children and adults riding a roller coaster at Cedar Point amusement park. Opened in 1870, Cedar Point is an amusement park located on a 364-acre peninsula in Lake Erie. It is in the city of Sandusky, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03327
Subjects: Erie County (Ohio); Cultural Ohio--Popular Culture; Roller coasters; Amusement parks--Ohio; Amusement rides
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of several young people on a roller coaster, taken by John Sheckler of Middletown, Ohio. The image was one of ten to win Honorable Mention in the Professional category of the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest. In August 1976, the Ohio American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Committee (OARBAC) began the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest as part of a larger effort in Ohio to celebrate the 1976 American Bicentennial. The contest was meant to document "the spirit and character of the people and places which represent Ohio during [the] bicentennial year," and to create a permanent photographic archive of the year's festivity for use by future researchers. Both professional and amateur photographers submitted over 500 photographs for consideration, all taken within the state between January 1 and December 31, 1976. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA2734AV_B01_07
Subjects: American Revolution Bicentennial (1976); Roller coasters; Amusement parks; Sports and leisure;
Places: Middletown (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)