Description: Northwood lighthouse, shown in this photograph, is located on the north shore of the Grand Lake St. Marys between St. Marys and Celina. The lighthouse was built in 1923 and is currently inactive. The photograph measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). Grand Lake St. Marys was the largest man-made lake in the world when it was built in 1845. The 13,500-acre lake was built to feed water into the Miami-Erie Canal when water levels fell below five feet. The lake took seven years to build and includes fifty miles of shoreline. It became a state park in 1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3180_4412105_001
Subjects: Transportation; Geography and Natural Resources; Lakes & ponds; Lighthouses
Places: St. Marys (Ohio); Auglaize County (Ohio); Celina (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: Original description reads: "The West shore of Lake Erie." This is a photograph of waves crashing on the rocky shore of Lake Erie. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F10_27_01
Subjects: Lake Erie; Erie, Lake, Coast (Ohio); Geography and Natural Resources; Recreation; Lakes; Landscapes; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a group of sailboats cruising around Buckeye Lake in Licking County, ca. 1960s or 1970s. Buckeye Lake began as a small pond that Ohio's American Indians called “Big Swamp” or “Big Pond.” In the 1820s, the state of Ohio developed it as a water source for the Licking Summit of the Ohio and Erie Canal, and engineers dammed the north and west sides of the swamp. This part of the canal project was completed in 1830. After the summit level of the canal became inactive in the 1890s, the State developed Licking Summit Reservoir (Buckeye Lake) for recreation. The Columbus, Buckeye Lake, and Newark Traction Company developed an "electric park" here, bringing in excursionists on inter-urban cars between 1904 and 1929 and creating one of the region's most popular resorts. Hotels and summer cottages proliferated on leased ground. The Great Depression changed the environment of Buckeye Lake significantly. The rail line went out of business, which meant that many people could no longer afford to travel to the park. A number of families began to live in their summer cottages year-round because they could no longer afford their more expensive homes in the cities. The amusement park continued to operate during this era, constantly working to add features that would attract more visitors, such as a roller coaster, a roller skating rink, a nightclub, and the Crystal Ballroom and Pool. The ballroom attracted a number of famous performers, including Guy Lombardo, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington, among others. Grand entertainments continued throughout the 1940s, and the amusement park attracted as many as fifty thousand people each day. In 1949 the state of Ohio designated Buckeye Lake as the first state park. The amusement park began to decline in popularity by the late 1950s and continued to deteriorate in the 1960s. The crowds that had once flocked to the park had disappeared, and buildings were torn down one by one. Visitors to Buckeye Lake today can find only one remaining remnant of the old Buckeye Lake Amusement Park, a fountain that is located at the Buckeye Lake State Park's North Shore. The lake has 3,800 acres of water, 35 miles of shoreline, and twenty islands. Today the lake area has become the water recreation center of central Ohio, providing boating, swimming, fishing, water skiing, golfing, picnicking, and ice sports. The lake extends into three counties: Fairfield, Licking and Perry. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06653
Subjects: Sailboats; Sailing; Lakes & ponds; Buckeye Lake State Park (Ohio); Buckeye Lake (Ohio)--History; State parks & reserves; Amusement parks
Places: Buckeye Lake (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of men fishing at Oxbow Lake was taken in the 1960s. Located 7 miles north of Defiance, Ohio, the 416-acre lake was built in 1953. It is now Oxbow Lake Wildlife Area, home to dozens of species of birds, fish, and other animals. The slide measures 2.75" x 2.75" (6.99 x 6.99 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3013_3634204_001
Subjects: Sports; Geography and Natural Resources; Fishing; Lakes & ponds; Boats
Places: Defiance (Ohio); Defiance County (Ohio)
 

Description: Four photographs document the Big Bend Regatta, held June 23-25, 1965 in Meigs County, Ohio. The first photograph shows the spectators preparing for the frog-jumping contest. The second photograph shows Senator Collins at the event. Two other photographs show boat races that gave the event its name. The photographs measure 2.75" x 2.75" (6.99 x 6.99 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3033_3645119_001
Subjects: Transportation; Sports; Plants and Animals; Geography and Natural Resources; Frogs; Contests; Boats; Lakes & ponds; Regattas; Racing
Places: Pomeroy (Ohio); Middleport (Ohio); Meigs County (Ohio)
 

Description: Built to relieve a dilapidated main lighthouse, the West Breakwater light at Fairport Harbor was completed in 1925. The light's iron shell and other cast-iron sections were fabricated in Buffalo; masonry and interior work for the keeper's quarters were completed on-site. In 2009, deeming the light unnecessary, the U.S. Coast Guard auctioned off the site to Jerome Osborne, a Mentor, Ohio building contractor and lighthouse enthusiast. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F11_02_01
Subjects: Lighthouses; Lake Erie; Lakes; Landscapes; Geography and Natural Resources; Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works
Places: Fairport Harbor (Ohio); Lake County (Ohio)